Fritos:The Original Corn Chip
by Kiss of the Breeze
Summary: Because you never really know what could be lurking in the streets of Tokyo. Fresh from the dojo, escorting a reluctant roommate, or escaping from the trails of fighting Light&Darkness across Worlds, all find fun in a Karaoke Bar. X-over. Not /just/ crack
1. Chapter 1

**_(Disclaimer): I own the café/bar thing. I own half the credit for the idea of this fic. Once again, credit goes to the authoress CrazyHinata, formerly known as NinjaYuna. If you like this and or Parental Values - of which she also deserves credit for original inspiration- then you should go read some of her stuff. Ok, back to the actual disclaiming part of this: I do not own any of the characters, shows, songs, and any other things I would get in trouble or get money for owning. Crossing over will be Kingdom Hearts, Inu Yasha, Naruto and Black Cat._**

"Sesshomaru, would you please stop messing with the radio?" Kagome asked while taping her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. It would have been easier to take public transportation, she realized, but that was too risky. Even though Sesshomaru was much more composed than his brother it was best not to press with too much too soon.

Sesshomaru obediently stopped touching the dials. However, he cast a death glare at Kagome. How dare she tell him what to do? Still, he did nothing more and turned his attention to the cars ahead. He was on unfamiliar ground and it was likely best not to kill one's guide in a situation such as his.

The station it was on was now playing some song in western tongue. In the three months he'd been living in this era, and in what he gathered from the foreign merchants of his own time, Sesshomaru was quickly catching onto the now international language known as English. With what he was able to work with he caught the gist of the song. Soon thereafter decided he didn't like it.

It was about a man who missed a woman and felt guilty for never showing his feelings -or something like that- and now that he was intoxicated he wanted to cry. 'Foolish human,' he scoffed then shifted uncomfortably in the clothes Kagome had forced him to wear. Apparently, his usual detailed layers and armor would not due in this time.

Sesshomaru sighed and gazed out the window at the crowded streets of down-town Tokyo. Why had he given into curiosity and followed the infernal girl beside him down that bloody well?

-Flash Back-

Kagome, after yet another fight with Inuyasha, jumped down the old bone-eater's well and disappeared in a flash of green light. She was unaware that she was being watched by a very intrigued Youkai Lord. A certain demon who had previously been in route to torment his younger half-brother who he had sensed in the area the day before. But the ruffled and half muttering female his brother traveled with had crossed his path first and had been so engrossed in her own thoughts she hadn't even noticed him!

Said demon found it odd that he no longer felt the girls's presence, or why she had willingly leapt down a whole in the ground. He quickly followed after, unprepared and unafraid of the consequences, clearly this was something he should look into. With that he landed himself hundreds of years into the future and beside a very surprised miko who had just started to climb out. She fell back down out of shock at his sudden appearance. "Sess- Sesshomaru?" She yelled in surprise, looking up at him from her prone position in the dirt.

After they exited the well he had forced her to explain what had happened. This was done only after his many promises not to kill, harm, or harass her. Once the explaining was finished, a process that had taken far too long, something rare and unthinkable happened. An earthquake shook the ground causing the centuries old well to crumble and cave in on itself. It was an odd and crule twist of fate. Sesshomaru stomped his foot in a very childish manner -that was much out of his caracter he later decided. He calmed himself before turning to the speachless female beside him and informed her that until further notice he would be staying with her. Needless to say, there was no refusal.

(Meanwhile)

Back in the feudal era Inuyasha scratched his head in bewilderment. "Where the hell did all these rocks come from?"

-End o' Flashback-

So here he was, trapped in this odd time with a human girl of eighteen as his only companion. To add to it, she was still some what afraid of him. The latter was an up-side, though, as he saw it. "So where are we going again?" Sesshomaru ventured to ask after a while.

"My friend Hojo has invited me to his birthday party. I probably shouldn't drag you along, but to be honest, I'd feel safer." Kagome told him.

"You say he is your friend…yet you feel you need protection from him?" Sesshomaru figured he would never understand humans.

"Well the thing is, Hojo really likes me but I don't return the affection like that. I thought that if he saw me with you... maybe he wouldn't hit on me," she confessed with a blush.

"You want me to pretend to be your mate?" The thought disturbed him a little, but less than he thought that it ought to have.

"Well… boyfriend would be the more appropriate term. You don't have to if you don't want!" She was quick to add the last part.

Sesshomaru sighed, "I'll concede to it I suppose." He replied with a shrug.

Kagome smiled as she pulled into the place the invitation had directed her to go and suppressed a giggle, 'I wonder what Inuyasha would think if he found out about this?' she thought in amusement.

Sesshomaru looked up at the florescent words on the building and tried to guess their meaning. 'Karaoke Café and Bar?'

-Scene Change-

Sasuke watched from a distance as he saw his brother walk into a local bar. To his luck, it was also a Karaoke café, meaning, he would be able to get in with out trouble. Tonight would be the night he got revenge, he decided determinedly as he crossed the street and entered the building.

"Sasuke just went into a bar!" Sakura exclaimed from her hiding spot beside Naruto. The two had been following stealthily behind their friend at a safe distance, theatrically dodging behind trash bins and people along the way. Currently, there was a hotdog vendor between the amateur stalkers and where their pray had been.

"Chill out Sakura, its not just a bar." Naruto quickly pointed out while rubbing his ear from where his friend had yelled into it. "Besides, it's not like they'd sell _sake_ to a minor in a place like that anyway."

"It looked like he was following someone." A soft voice said coming from behind them. The two froze, fearing that they'd been busted, before slowly turning to see who its owner was.

"Hinata, what are you doing here?" Naruto questioned in astonishment. Their schoolmate had a much easier time of being unnoticed and had been walking slightly behind the two at a leisurely pace in the very middle of the sidewalk.

The girl blushed, "Well… I saw you two sneak off a little after Sasuke left... so I thought I'd come too... just to make sure nothing was wrong."

"Oh." Came the unison relif filled reply. "So, I guess we should go in too. We didn't come all this way for nothing!" Sakura declared, leading the others to the building.

A certain silver-haired man put down the book he'd been "reading" and watched as the three entered into the café. 'They'll never make it as ninjas if they didn't even notice me here.' He thought with a shake of his head.

Kakashi sighed and tucked his book into his vest, "I had better make sure they don't get into trouble." He muttered as he crossed the street.

-Scene Change-

Axel took another bite of the pizza he'd been nibbling at for the last five minutes and shook his head disapprovingly at the screen. Roxas, thinking the action was directed at what he'd just said, kicked his friend in the leg. "I was only saying…" He started defensively.

Axel turned to him and raised an eye brow. "Oh, sorry, I wasn't even listening." He gave his attention back to the television but he continued to voice his train of thought. "You know," He jerked his thumb to the T.V., "the people on that world must be really stupid."

"Why do you say that?" Roxas asked while reaching for another slice of luke-warm pizza.

"The commercial that was just on said, 'If your pet smells that's their way of telling you they're unclean.' Duh! I'm guessing the audience doesn't know this or something." Axel gave a disgusted snort and readjusted himself on the couch so that he was propped on the arm.

"Maybe that's how they get people. The audience might be fairly intelligent but they buy the product out of sympathy _because_ the commercial is so stupid." Roxas suggested.

"Dude, that hardly makes sense! I very much doubt that's the case," Axel replied. Silence then fell again between them, but only for a minute.

"Hey look, its Demyx!" Roxas called out in a laugh. Some guy with a mullet was currently on the screen yelling "what's up" in an elongated fashion.

"Who's me?" Demyx asked, over-hearing and poking his head into the room. "Hey, pizza!" He was soon sidetracted by the box of greasy goodness that was in front of his friends. Demyx plopped down on the floor, leaning back onto the couch that Axel and Roxas were hogging, and helped himself to a slice.

"Hey, Demyx, do you know where these channels are from? What World, I mean," Axel asked. He'd been wanting to know ever since he and Roxas had discovered that they now had an extincive amount of foreign shows.

"Turn it to a music station and I should be able to tell you," the dirty blonde answered. Everyone knew Demyx had an obsession for all types of music, so his request came as no surprise.

Roxas scrolled through the stations till he found a band playing. The word Fuse was in the upper corner and some man in black was yelling about a Miss. Murder woman. "Catchy beat," Roxas complemented as the people preformed on.

"Earth. That's where these channels are from." Demyx said knowingly.

"It's weird how you knew that just by the music," Axel stated from the couch.

Demyx shrugged and continued to tap his foot to the refrain. "I wonder why he is warring make-up. Think I should put on make-up too, when I perform?"

"No!" Roxas and Axel answered in unison. "Dude, not having on makeup is one of the only things distinguishing your gender." Roxas said jokingly.

"Meaning you don't need to make it worse on yourself. No make up. Ever. Got it memorized?" Axel asked.

Demyx rolled his eyes and quickly changed the subject. "If these are from Earth we should find a more diverse channel. I hear Earth is one of the biggest and most complex of the worlds!" He then grabbed the remote and turned it to a station called IMF (the international music feed). "This is one of my favorite channels."

"How long have we had these stations then?" Axel asked.

"About a month. Saix is the one who intercepted the signals." Demyx answered simply, as if everyone else in the castle had known all along.

After about a hour and a half Roxas and Axel were beginning to see what their friend meant. This place had vast divisions of lands called countries- each almost passing for a World of its own- and a lot of diffrent languages. It was still a hard thing to grasp, but then, again their teacher was a _music_ station.

"You know what we should do?" Axel asked suddenly, his eyes shining in a plan.

The others turned and waited for him to continue. "We should pay this would a visit. It certainly looks interesting." He concluded.

"I don't know... Where would we start? You saw how big it was. Besides, Roxas' alter ego is still causing trouble for the Organization, now's not the best time for a vacation." Demyx said doubtfuly.

"Eh, screw the organization. At any rate, let's go to that Australia place. It looked relatively small and off by itself" Axel replied.

"Nah, still too big," Roxas said. He then rewound the screen back to a map of the world. "How about here?" He asked pointing to a small looking island.

"What was that one called again?" Axel pondered out loud.

"Japan." Demyx answered.

"So how about it?" Axel asked though he was already up and had a dark portal opened.

Roxas stood and turned to Demyx who was reluctantly getting up as well. "I guess it's settled then."

Sora stared at an obviously magic mirror. They were in the basement of Disney Castle where a vast collection of miscelaneous items were to be found. "So, you can show me anything I need?" He asked it.

"I can tell you whatever you would care to know," came the monotone answer from the face that stared back at him.

"Ask it were the Organization members are!" Donald suggested while pushing Goofy out of the way to get a better view.

"Yeah, that's a good idea!" Sora agreed. He looked back at the mirror. "Could you tell me were the members of Organization XIII are?"

"One is in Beast's Castle, another in the Land of Dragons, three have traveled to a distant and unconnected world called Earth, and the remaining members are in a World that Never Was." The mirror answered.

Sora was silent for a moment, slightly confused. Then he said, "Well I'm sure Beast and Belle can take care of themselves, the same I think can go for Mulan." He paused to think for a bit again. "I guess that leaves that Earth place."

"Earth is the nexus of the universe. It is a mixture of many dimensions most of which have even created half of the worlds you have previously visited."

Sora rubbed his head, "Huh?"

"An example would be Neverland. It is a place recreated, though differently, from a place on Earth called London, Great Brittan. To complicate it more, Neverland is a _past_ version of London. Another example would be Beast's Castle. It is, or would be located, in a _past_ France, a place also obviously located on Earth."

"Garsh, this is sure makin' my head hurt." Goofy said.

"Yeah… but if the organization is in a place as complicated as that then it can't be good." Sora reasoned. "How could I get there?" He asked the mirror.

"Look behind you." With that, a portal opened on the wall behind them. "But Sora, you must enter alone, least your companions end up like this." With that the mirror showed a picture of a normal dog and a rubber duck. "The elements that make up this world have diffrent laws of nature that would cause the effect." It said in result to the looks they gave in responce to the images.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Donald quaked.

"Sorry guys, looks like this is a task for me alone." Sora said, though he hesitated at the portal.

"Ah, I'm sure ya'll do fine Sora." Goofy said trying to reassure him.

Sora nodded and stepped through the glowing vortex.

_**(A/N): Alright, I'll cram more into the next chapter. Yes, this is a very, very messed up fic. But hopefully, even though it is a cross over, the individual storylines I've set up will hold their own. And seeing as how I already have the next to chapters written and things are going …OK- I guess its safe to say they will.**_

_**So, I really have to go, this is not my house and my mom is here to pick me up. Feel free to ask questions. I was going to explain some things but I guess not. Bye!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**(A/N): OK Now I have time to actually explain some stuff like I had planed to in the last chapter…**_

_**1) I made Kagome 18 so she could drive. I know in the US you only have to be 16 but in some other countries it's 18 and I went with that to be safe. Also, with that change she doesn't look so weird with a man who looks in his mid to late 20s**_

_**2) Well Naruto and company are not originally in Tokyo, I know, but hey! they're all still 'ninjas' so it shouldn't matter if they're from different villages or simply different dojos.**_

_**3) I like Roxas, that's why he's not just written off as inside Sora. **_

_**Now… if you have any other questions just ask.**_

The noise inside the place was almost as unbearable as the smell to Sesshomaru and his acute senses. He stepped closer to Kagome, the only familiar thing to him at this point, as she waved greeting to a male as he approached them.

"Hi, Kagome, glade you could make it," The boy said in greeting. "And who is this?" His gaze turned almost unwillingly to the man standing beside his crush.

"This is my boyfriend, Sesshomaru." She told him with a straight face, hoping he would believe it.

The look of disappointment was clear on his face. Quickly, he forced a smile, "Well nice to meet you. I must say, you're one lucky man." He extended his hand in welcome, "I'm Hojo."

Sesshomaru didn't shake his hand, knowing his claws would seem just a bit conspicuous. Instead he bowed his head slightly and said, "A pleasure meeting you." 'Not really…' He added to himself. Still, at least he had more dignity than to be rude and say so out loud. Not the the youth showed any outward signs of unpleasentness, the yokai lord merely wasn't the social type. Honestly, he wondered why Kagome had such an aversion to him.

"So how old are you? Well out of your teens, if I'm correct."

How true that was! Luckily, Kagome had given him a fitting and non-overwhelming age to use in such a situation. "I'm twenty-five." Sesshomaru answered.

"A-ah. More than old enough to drink then! I'm sure Kagome will be driving back, huh?" He gave a goofy smile.

"This is true, but I assure you it will not be because I've impaired myself with liquor," Sesshomaru said, slightly offended. Besides, if this place was anything like the taverns of his time the brew would hardly affect him.

"I didn't mean anything by it…" Hojo said apologetically scratching the back of his head uncomforably.

Kagome quickly broke the awkward situation by interjecting, "Oh I almost forgot!" With that she dug into her purse and pulled out a card and handed it to Hojo. "Happy birthday!"

Hojo took it with a thanks and then led the two towards the two booths where he and the rest of his friends were seated. 'This is going to be a long day.' Sesshomaru thought while resisting the urge to cover his ears as a squeaky girl on stage belted out some love silly song.

-Scene Change-

Itachi ordered another drink and downed it . Even though he was slowly getting drunk he still aware that he was being watched. Looking in the glass from the man beside him, he was able to see the reflection his stalker a bit. He recognized him almost instently and let out a quiet sigh 'Well, hello little brother.' he thought dryly.

"Like what I'm having or did you space out?" The man beside him spoke suddenly. "You've been staring at my drink for a good minute now."

Itachi looked up to see that the owner of the glass was none other than Orochimaru. "Sorry about that, I was lost in my thoughts for a second." He said stiffly. 'Why is _he _here?'

"You're still able to think?" Orochimaru asked with a smirk. Clearly, he was bordering on the point of not being able to himself, otherwise he might have shown more aggrestion towards the Uchiha.

Itachi let out a humorless chuckel, "Yes. I happen to hold my liquor very well thank you."

"Not that it will mater at the rate you've been going," a woman on the other side of Itachi stated.

"I concur." Orochimaru added. He looked over at the woman and his eyes widened when he realized who it was. "Anko Mitarashi! Fancy meeting you here," he commented with a mock bow of the head.

"Not now, Orochimaru. I'm not in the mood…" Anko said tiredly before taking another drink.

"Nah, no worries. I'm taking a vacation, as it is," the pale, dark-haired man stated. "Truce for now?"

"Truce." Anko agreed with ease.

Itachi sighed in boredom as the two continued to talk across him. He stole a quick glance at Orochimaru's glass again and saw that Sasuke was gone.

o0o

"So Sasuke, what are ya doing here?" Naruto asked while tapping the other boy on the shoulder.

Startled, Sasuke tore his eyes away from his brother to glare at the want-to-be ninja. "What are you doing here? Following me, I assume." It was a pointless to ask, of course.

"We just wanted to make sure everything was alright." Sakura explained coming up beside Naruto.

Sasuke sighed, "You even brought Kakashi-sensei along?" He asked after spotting the man at a back table "reading".

"Huh? I didn't know he followed us!" Naruto said before turning around to look around for him.

"Some ninjas you guys are." Sasuke replied sarcastically.

Kakashi looked up at them and motioned for the four to join him. Once they got to his table he said, "So what will you have? Since we're all playing hooky I guess I'll pay. I will also see to it that Hinata here doesn't get in too much trouble."

"Kakashi-sensei you're the best!" Naruto exclaimed while sitting down at the table beside him. Not seeing anything strange in his teacher's proclamation.

'Well this is a little too convenient…' Sasuke thought skeptically but he joined the others at the table. Sakura and Hinata seemed to share his thoughts because they too were giving Kakashi questioning looks.

"I'm just being nice today." He said in answer to their unvoiced concern. "Just don't order too expensive, I don't have that much on me."

-Scene Change-

DiZ gazed at his monitors disapprovingly. "This does not bode well." He said out loud. Turning from the colorful map on the screen and it's colorful lights and gages.

"What doesn't?" Riku asked while coming up behind him.

"It seems Sora and three of the Organization members have traveled to a very complex World. However, this World's very oddity keeps it stable. In other words, their presence shouldn't be that damaging_ if _we act quickly. Will you be willing to go?" He looked over at the young man, who nodded without question. "Good, you're task is simple. Have them leave." DiZ stated, turning on his heel to leave. A hot cup of tea would sooth his nerves...

o0o

"Hey, we look kind of different, don't we?" Demyx asked while examining himself.

"Yeah… a bit." Roxas said absently, focusing more on their surroundings rather than the odd quality their forms had suddenly taken. Besides, diffrent Worlds had been known to alter one's apperence from time to time. "What now?" He asked, refering to what they were going to do since their destonation had been reached.

"What else? We explore," Axel answered. They walked around the crowded sidewalks for some period of time, all the while getting the occasional odd look from passers-by due to their matching apparel. Most people, though, seemed content to just happily ignore them. What _didn't_ walk down the Tokyo streets anymore?

"I don't know about you guys but I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic. Not only that, have you noticed how much our cloths stand out? I feel like blending in right now," Demyx said after a while. "This world just seems to uneventful so far and it's making me uneasy." Roxas was quick to nod his agreement.

"Not to brag, but I'm getting nothing but good looks from the local babes. I guess we can find you losers something else to wear if you feel the need." Axel said with a shrug.

"Hey look, that place sells clothes," Roxas announced pointing to a store across the way with apparel lining the windows.

Once inside the place, it wasn't long before Roxas and Demyx found some stuff they liked. Roxas picked out some black jeans and a white shirt with a single red strip going down from the right shoulder. Demyx found himself some baggy -but not saggy-blue jeans and a green tank-top.

After locating the dressing room, they found the clothing fit. The only problem occurred when they went to pay for the items. "What is this?" The cashier asked while looking at the munny Axel had put before him.

"It's to pay for the stuff, what else?"

"I'm sorry, we don't accept this type of currency here." The man replied. He was eyeing the boys with open displeasure.

"Well, what are we supposed to do about it?" Demyx asked.

"Put the items back, of course." The man answered, a little annoyed. He pushed his glasses further up his nose and glared at them in challenge.

"Better yet…" And with that Axel opened a dark portal and stepped through. The store worker blinked a few times then ran out from behind the counter and examined the floor where the shoplifters had just been. With sweat now on his forehead he locked the doors and retreated to the backroom, the cameras would have to be consulted!

"I'm going to feel bad later for stealing these…" Roxas said once they on the sidewalk again. He and Demyx had changed while in the dark corridor. But not _too_ bad, he reasoned. They had done worse in the name of the Organization. "So, where now?"

"Oh! Look there!" Demyx yelled pointing to a building. "Its one of those Karaoke places! You know, we saw one on that one show." He bagan walking to it with out even waiting for his friends to follow.

Roxas sighed, "We've nothing better to do right now."

o0o

"Wow. This is going to be hard." Sora said dejectedly as he gazed into the large crowds of people. 'I don't think any of the Worlds had this many people in one place.' He thought, giving a slight pout. It now was very clear that he was uncomfortable in crowds larger than ten people. Sora sighed, "Did that portal even put me remotely close to the Organization kooks?" He wondered out loud standing on a corrner as people walked past him.

"Well, mine fortunately put me near you," a voice said from behind him.

Sora turned to find a cloaked and hooded figure standing there. "Hey! You're one of the people I'm looking for!" He said in accusation. He swiftly shifted his weight and prepared to summon his keyblade.

"No. I wear this for disclosed reasons, but we're on the same side I assure you. Follow me, I know were to find those whom we seek." He said, almost dismissively, as he stepped around the young brunette.

"Who are you?" Sora asked, doubt filling his words and he took a step, preparing himself.

"Not important." The mystery person then walked off, leaving a confused Sora no choice but to follow.

-Back with Sesshy-

Sesshomaru sat bored, sipping at the drink that was slowly starting to impair him. The brew of this era was admit ably more potent, he decided, than that from his time. Kagome sat deep in pointless conversation with her friends as he sat there putting up with everything. 'A few more of these drinks and maybe that singer will sound good.' He thought to himself sardonicly. It was all he could do to amuse himself.

The brooding Inu sat straight up suddenly, there was another demon present and yet another was coming within close range of the building. Why hadn't he noticed this earlier, he wondered. Scanning the room he found the demon that was already there, a small boy towards the back. He and the group he was sitting with had an unusual distinction in their auras, Sesshomaru noticed. Actually, now that he was looking for it, he found three other people with the same peculiarity.

'Interesting.' Sesshomaru thought, 'I shall have to make it a point to talk to them at some time or other.' He decided finishing off the rest of his drink. At least now he had something to do. Looking over to the three he had found off by themselves he decided they would be the ones he talked to; because, dealing with children was not his thing. Rin was the only exception. 'I wonder how she is doing?' He thought with regret. Strangely, it made him sad to think that in the time he was now she was dead.

-Scene Change-

"So af'er the guy was. Was... on the ground bleedin' from ever' place imagin'ble, he still didn't give up! I-"

"You should 'ave just killed 'im to begin with." Orochimaru interrupted Anko, rolling his eyes.

"You're missin' te point. It's not that." She replied, though really there was no point in her alcohol induced rambling. Orochimaru was proving to be a total light weight and Itachi had them both beat but didn't go out of his way to show it due to being once again lost in thought.

Orochimaru stuck his tongue out at the woman and turned around in his stool to face out to the rest of the place. "Hey look! It'ss that there Sasuke!" Yes, the alcohol was definitely working hardest on him.

'Lucky for everyone, Lord Orochimaru is a happy drunk.' Itachi thought with a chuckle. "You're just now noticing him?"

Anko turned and followed his gaze, but with Uchiha Sasuke being just another student in her eyes she went back to her drink not seeing any importance.

"Yesh." Orochimaru answered Itachi's earlier question. "Them 'er strong for kids." He said. As an after thought he corrected his self, "They."

"They? Are you seeing double already?" Itachi asked while turning around also.

"No. I's meanin' 'im and 'is friends."

"How many shots 'ave you had Orochi?" Anko asked.

Orochimaru paused. "I'm pretty sure only nine." He said very slowly so as not to slur.

"Wow, that sentence was very well pronounced, for you." Itachi observed.

Orochimaru smiled and gave a thumbs-up before he was distracted by the group at the far table again. "Hey look! Kakchi is with 'em! I 'aven't seen 'im, 'im in a while. " Orochimaru waved energetically to the other man.

o0o

"Well, I'm guessing he's had one to many." Kakashi whispered under his breath as he waved to someone at the bar.

Sasuke, hearing him, turned to see who he was referring to. Once he saw who it was he sunk down into his seat. That man _still_ freaked him out.

"Are you okay, Sasuke?" Sakura asked from beside him. He simply nodded in answer.

-Scene Change-

Axel grabbed an open booth and sat down. No way was he going to make a fool of his self by following Demyx up to the front to get in line to sing. Roxas seemed to share his thoughts and he sat down across from him and watched as the self proclaimed rock star went to perform. "Well this should prove interesting." Axel said although he sounded completely bored.

"I wonder what he'll sing?" Roxas pondered out loud.

"He seems well acquainted with stuff from this world so I assume it will be something local." Axel answered, not really caring either way.

o0o

"Where are we going?" Sora asked while trying to keep up with the guy in front of him.

"Here." His guide said, opening a door and motioning Sora inside. The setting sun was a sharp contrast to the fluorescent interior of the place. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, causing him to blink a few times before he took a good look around. Quickly he spotted the all too familiar cloak of one of the organization members.

Before he could take a step towards him, his guide put a firm hand on his shoulder. "Not yet." He said. The two of them instead took a table one away from their targets, a group of kids about their own age was between them.

"Who are you? C'mon, just give me a name." Sora tried again not seeing anything else to do for the time being. All he got though was a stern shake of the head. Losing patience Sora simply reached over and pushed back the hood. "Riku?" He exclaimed in disbelieve.

Riku looked confused and began inwardly dieing for a mirror. Could it be he had regained his true appearance? How else would Sora know it was him? "You recognize me?" He asked finally, unable to think of anything else to say.

Sora nodded still dumbfounded. "W-why didn't you want me to know it was you?"

"It's…complicated." Riku answered lamely and shrugged his shoulders.

_**(A/N): OK things are falling into place. Sorry if this seems draggy. Hopefully, the next few chapters will liven things up. Well, like the last chapter, this whole thing was thought up at early hours in the morning, around 12 to 1 or 1:30. So if you have a problem with this fic blame it on that or something.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_(A/N): A thanks goes out to Tokichic for reminding me that it was high time I updated this thing. Once again a quick warning, though _**written**_ at normal hours the original construction of this chapter took place from hours 12:00pm and later. Hope you enjoy and if you have questions just ask. _**

"Hey, Kagome, you should go sing!" Hojo said suddenly.

Sesshomaru smirked as the girl went red at the suggestion. "No, I think I'll pass," the girl replied nervously. To that she got a chorus of 'awws' and 'why not's from the group gathered.

"Come on! You have a lovely singing voice." Hojo pressed.

Sesshomaru was now slightly more glad of his decision to come along. He was also glad to be playing the part of her boyfriend. This was because with that title he would have more persuasive powers over her. He could easily use that to his advantage. "Come, darling, sing us a song." He said smoothly with an evil smile gracing his lips.

Kagome would have strangled him had she not realized it would do no good. Not to mention how weird it would look for a girl to suddenly try and kill her 'date'. She gulped hard before replying, "I- I don't know…"

"Oh you know you want to." Both Hojo and Sesshomaru said. They glanced at each other quickly, finding it weird that they said it at the same time.

'What is up with Sesshomaru? Why is he trying to get me to make a fool of myself? Never mind, that's a stupid question.' She mentally rolled her eyes. 'Well two can play at this game, demon.' Kagome forced a smile, "Alright, honey. I'll go if _you _go too."

Sesshomaru stiffened slightly but thinking quickly he slipped an arm around her, "Fine, but you first." He said with an easy smile.

Kagome's heart sank. That was _not _the reaction she intended. "Do you _promise_ to sing too?"

"Sure." Sesshomaru said. Ah, the confidence that comes from knowing you can kill almost everyone in the room with you. Sesshomaru was sure of his vocal cords and besides, what was this in comparison to seeing Higurashi embarrass herself?

Kagome nearly lost it. She hated getting up in front of people, much less to perform! "Okay, but why don't we wait till a few more people go?" Kagome asked. Maybe it wouldn't look _that_ weird if she tired to strangle her 'boyfriend.'

Hojo and the others consented and they all turned their eyes to the stage as a young boy cleared his throat for everyone's attention.

-Scene Change-

Sakura couldn't help but notice that two guys, from the tables on either side of her own group's, were wearing the same exact thing. 'I wonder if they meant to do that?' She thought to herself while trying not to stare. She soon brought her attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Sensei? Who was that man you were waving at?" Naruto was asking.

"An old acquaintance." Kakashi answered. "His name is Orochimaru."

"Um… he's coming over here." Hinata reported softly scooting closer to Naruto and away from the approching stranger.

Sasuke nearly slammed his head into the table. However, he restrained himself- an action like that wasn't something he was prone to do and he didn't feel like shattering his composed image. 'Perhaps he will not stick around long.' He tried to tell himself for comfort.

Orochimaru, seeing there was no room in the booth, sat on his knees at the edge of the table. "Hi!" He said cheerfully while cupping his chin in his hands, resting his elbows on the table.

"May I help you?" Kakashi asked after a moment of silent awkwardness.

Orochimaru shook his head. "No. Not really, no. I jus' came ta say hi. Oh! I was goin' to offer Sasuke somthin'. Maybe... but I forgot…" He shrugged it off and continued to smile at the group as if they had all been friends for a long time.

'Man this guy is weird!' Inner Sakura exclaimed. She gulped visably and tried not to look at the werid man.

"So, you'll be going now." Kakashi said getting tired of his presence. It was more of a demand rather than a statement.

Orochimaru sighed and stood back up, "Are you sure?." He asked with a pout. "Okay, Okay. I c'n leave." As he turned to go back to his seat he noticed that some man was sitting in his stool talking with Anko and Itachi. He stood still for a moment, a little confused.

o0o

"So you're ninjas?" Sesshomaru asked to make certain in his assumption. 'Hmm their style has evolved since my time.' he noted to himself.

Itachi looked at him closely, doing more than others had thought to. "And you're a demon, aren't you?"

Sesshomaru smiled, "You're more observant than most, though it doesn't take much to realize the obvious. It really makes me question the intelligence of this population." He looked over his shoulder to Kagome and her gang. Naturally, she had been suspicious when he excused himself. He had to reassure her that he wasn't trying to get out of his promise.

He just couldn't pass up the opportunity to come talk to these two. After he saw an opening appear he took it. Now, the man who had gotten up was returning. "I'm sure he will be waning his seat back, so we'll continue this conversation later." Sesshomaru said, getting ready to get up. "It's been nice having someone half way decent to talk to." He said before making to leave.

"But you don't look like mos' demons… not like te Nine-Tailed Fox." The woman introduced as Anko said before he could make his leave. Dispite her apparent intoxication, even she was still somehow reasonably decent.

"My true form would beg to differ." He assured her rather proudly before standing up and respectfully excusing himself.

"Who was that?" Orochimaru asked as he returned. Yet, he was only vagily interested.

"A demon by the name of Sesshomaru." Itachi answered as if it were of no importance.

Orochimaru shrugged, hiccupped, then giggled as he reclaimed his seat. "You know… alcohol isn' good to you." Anko stated shaking her head dramatically.

Orochimaru shook _his_ head and kissed one of his empty shot glasses. "Nu- uh. Its my friend."

-Scene Change-

"Hey, isn't that one of the guys we're looking for?" Sora asked while pointing up to the stage. "He sure looks familiar."

Riku nodded. "Yeah, that is Demyx."

o0o

Demyx smiled as he popped his knuckles on stage. He recalled that the song he intended to sing was one of the biggest hits from this planet. So proclaimed the channel VH1 Classic. Confidently, he pulled the microphone down to his height. Not only had he memorized the lyrics but he also had the dance moves down pat, and with those he had his water clones to help him with. Not even bothering to put on music, he cleared his throat, calling most eyes to him.

With out further delay he began, "It's close to midniiight and something evil's lurking in the dark. Under the moonliiight you see a sight that almost stops your heart. You try to screeeam but terror takes the sound before you make it. You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes, you're paralyzed."

"Wow." Axel said pretty much speechless as Demyx sang.

"Hmm… well this is unexpected. He doesn't sound half bad." Roxas said as the two watched their friend on stage.

"Not half good either," Axel joked.

"You know him?" A pink-haired girl behind Roxas asked turning around in her seat. Both boys nodded. "I think you're friend's pretty good!" She said with a smile.

"Eh," Axel shrugged his shoulders in responce.

"Wow! what kind of jutsu is that?" The boy across from the green-eyed gril exclaimed after a moment had gone by. Everyone turned their attention back to Demyx who had summoned up a few water clones and danced in step with them then he continued to sing.

" 'Cause it's thriller, thriller night. There ain't no second chance against the thing with forty eyes. You know it's thriller, thriller night. You're fighting for your life inside of killer thriller tonight…"

"I'm almost regretting us admitting to knowing him." Axel whispered to Roxas, who in turn just laughed.

-Scene Change-

"Alright, Gaara, you remember our deal. You have to wear the ears too or else you don't get the full 100." Temari said holding out the band with fake bear ears on it.

Gaara glared at his sister. It wasn't the money making him do it. Coincidentally enough, it was his pride. He was about to humiliate himself just because Kankuro believed he wouldn't. Said sibling stepped up beside him and received a glare much more intimidating than the one he'd given their sister.

"Hey look, Gaara, some students from that Leaf dojo are here too. You still up to it?" Kankuro bravely taunted.

Gaara inwardly swore but nodded his head. "This changes nothing." He said coldly. Temari gave him an encouraging nudge towards the front. The boy currently on stage seemed to be finishing up. None of the Sand siblings seemed to find it at all odd that the guy was dancing with water people.

"…That this is thriller, thriller night. 'Cause I can thrill you more than any ghost would ever dare to try. Girl this is thriller, thriller night. So let me hold you tight and share a killer, diller, chiller, thriller here tonight."

The guy smiled wide then bowed before leaving the stage. It took a minute but the place erupted in applause.

Temari shrugged, "Apparently, he was good. Too bad we didn't catch his song from the beginning. Was that the old American song "Thriller"?"

Kankuro sighed, "Who cares? Go on Gaara before someone gets on stage before you!" He said.

They were too late. A man with long silver hair was pushing a very reluctant woman onto the stage.

Gaara shrugged, "Lets find a table."

_**(A/N): The next update should be very soon. I ended the chapter here simply because I'm eager to post due to my long absence from this fic. Please feel free to leave a review!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**(A/N): Sora and Riku need a more air time. I guess I'll try and shove them in the chapter if the other characters will stop demanding my attention. **_

"Well… I really have nothing to say to that." Sora said as Demyx made ready to leave the stage. "Now I see why you wanted to wait on confronting them. We would have missed an awesome show!" He raised his hand to call a waiter over. "Could I get something to drink?"

"What would you like?" The young man asked as he neared the table.

"What do you have?"

"Well for your age, Coke, Sprite, fruit drink or water."

"I'll try the Sprite. Want anything Riku?" He looked over at his momentarily silent friend who shook his head in answer.

"I was really just wanting to see what they were here for." Riku said once the waiter had gone. "Looks like they're just here for a good time. Not to cause trouble." He smirked, "I say we follow their example."

"But what about… I don't know… responsibility?" Sora asked doubtfully. "I don't want to just toss aside my duties."

"We're not abandoning anyone. But there is no immediate threat and I personally think it's high time we have a little break." The silver-haired teen reasoned, leaning back into the maroon upholstery, folding his arms loosly on his chest.

Sora shrugged, "I guess. And it's only for a few hours right?"

"Exactly."

-Scene Change-

"I was wondering," The pink-haired girl spoke again, jerking Axel and Roxas's eyes away from Demyx as he made his way back to the table. "Do you know him?" She asked pointing across the people in front of her to a silver haired boy at another table. It was obvious that the matching cloaks both he and Axel wore was the reason for her question.

Axel thought a moment before speaking, "Roxas? Isn't that the guy you fought with a while back?"

Roxas turned, "Yeah! What's he doing here? Look, Sora is with him too."

"Hey, thanks… um.?" Axel paused and the girl took the hint.

"Sakura."

"Thanks for pointing them out, Sakura." Axel said with a charming smile.

"You're welcome!" She replied cheerfully.

"Who are your new friends, Sakura?" The blonde boy in the orange sweats asked teasingly. As to why that tone was there neither Axel nor Roxas knew.

"Mind your own business, Naruto!" The girl said while looking murderous. She turned back to the two confused Nobodies. "What are your names, anyway? I assume yours is Roxas." She said pointing to the boy in question.

"Yeah. And this is Axel." He said, doing his friend the favor of formal introduction.

"And I'm Demyx." He said happily joining the conversation. He put down the drink he'd somehow come into possession of before extending his hand for a friendly shake.

"I'm Sakura." She told him, returning the gesture and blushing slightly.

"So what did you guys think of my singing?" Demyx asked, taking the seat next to Roxas.

"It was alright." Axel said while stealing a sip from the dark liquid Demyx had left unguarded. He raised his eyebrow soon after doing so. "What is this?" he asked before taking another drink.

"The man said it was Coca-Cola." Demyx answered.

"I liked your song. But I'm not too familiar with English so most of the effect was lost on me, I'm afraid." Sakura said.

"Thanks. It was by a Mr. Michel Jackson." Demyx told her and she nodded in interest. The one she referred to as Naruto simply snickered.

"Alright. You can stop drooling now, Sakura." The boy beside her said.

Sakura flushed deeply, "Oh be quiet, Sasuke, I'm not drooling!" She said defensively.

"Regardless, I'm sure these young men don't want you budding into their conversation." The adult of their table said.

"It's alright. We don't mind." Demyx said politely.

"If you don't mind me asking…" The girl next to Naruto said, speaking for what seemed the first time, "What kind of jutsu was that you did earlier?" She seemed almost reluctant to ask, Axel noticed.

"Huh?" Demyx was confused.

"What you did with the water! That was really cool!" The blonde clarified.

"Oh well-" Demyx paused, not sure how much would be save to say, "It's complicated." In fact, he probably shouldn't have done that, he mused.

"I'd say so." The boy Sakura referred to as Sasuke stated. "Seeing that they weren't complete clones and that there was no water close at hand for you to manipulate. "

"Uh… yeah." To say he had no clue would have been an understatement.

-Scene Change-

After picking out a song and being pushed on stage by Sesshomaru, Kagome adjusted the microphone and glued her eyes to the lyric screen in back. Inhaling deeply, she tried to ignore her shaking hands and pounding heart. The music started and the place got a little quieter. Realizing she had no other choice Kagome began singing.

"MIRAA ga utsushidasu maboroshi o ki ni shi nagara itsu no ma ni ka sokudo ageteru no sa. doko e itte mo ii to ii wareru to hanpa na ganmou ni wa hyoushiki mo zenbu haiiro da…" (The mirror that reveals my dreams raises my spirits unnoticed. When it's said "it's possible to go anywhere," My fragmented wishes are marked entirely in gray)

"I'm surprised we actually got her up there." Hojo admitted.

Sesshomaru nodded, "And I'm beginning to regret the price. Sure, I got her up there but now I am in line."

Hojo chuckled, "It won't be _that_ bad."

"…aoi sora ga mieru nara aoi kasa hirogete ii janai ka KYANBASU wa kimi no mono shiroi hata wa akirameta toki ni dake kazasu no ima wa makka ni sasou tougyuushi no you ni…" (The blue sky can be seen if you open your blue umbrella That isn't good? The canvas is yours I'll abandon time as I hold a white flag overhead In order for deep red to invite the matador now)

-Scene Change-

"Well, now that we're officially on vacation, I say we have some fun. You're up next." Riku said.

Sora nearly choked on his drink. "What? Why me?" He slumped down in his chair in exaggerated fear.

"Because, I'm due some entertainment." Riku replied with a smirk.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Riku laughed. "Fine, I'll go if you do. Besides, it's not like we know anyone on this world." He reasoned.

"Except the Organization members." Sora pointed out.

"And you've already seen that they have the same state of mind." Riku countered. He knew all his friend needed was some persuasion. He would get him up there one way or another, he decided.

Sora sighed, "What could it hurt? But we're going to have to wait."

Riku nodded, happy with his victory. "Yep. And While we do that, I say we eat."

-Scene Change-

"Now tha' Gaarra kid izz her. Right o'er there." Orochimaru observed.

Anko found it in her to act mildly interested and turned to see what her former teacher was talking about. "Yep. Th' Gaara kid." She said before turning back to her conversation with Itachi, who had just braved another drink.

"What'er th' bear ears for?" Orochimaru wondered out loud.

This got both Itachi and Anko's attention and they turned to see what it was he meant. They observed as the young ninja's sister adjusted the ears on his red head.

"I says he loss, lost a bet." Anko stated, having to once again correct her verb tense.

"Yeah, most likely." Itachi agreed. "We're bound to find out one way or the other." He said before turning back around.

"Wha'z th' other?" Orochimaru asked in a hushed whisper as he leaned over on his stool.

Itachi, unnerved by the proximity of the other man, pushed him away. This caused the impaired Orochimaru to fall from his seat. Itachi began to wonder if he was still conscious when he didn't get back up after a minute or so. He didn't really want to put forth the effort of turning to check, though.

The bar tender seemed more willing to show concern however, "Is he alright?"

"Mmhm, jus' leave 'im there for a while." Anko told him.

The man shrugged then turned away again. "Usually it takes more than eleven drinks before they pass out. Then again, I've seen some do it at five." He muttered to himself.

-Scene Change-

"…mou jibun ni wa yume no nai e shika egakenai to iu nara nuritsubushite yo KYANBASU o nando demo shiroi hata wa akirameta toki ni dake kazasu no ima no watashi wa anata no shiranai iro." (In myself, I see no dreams, like unpainted pictures How many times must I fill this canvas? I'll abandon time as I hold a white flag overhead I am your unknown color now)

Kagome finished and bowed shakily. It took a great deal of self control to not simply bolt from the stage, but she stood long enough for the warm round of applause… along with the shouts and whistles coming from Hojo and company, minus Sesshomaru. 'See? Survivable.' She reasoned to herself as she made her way back to her seat.

o0o

"Okay, go!" Kankuro said.

Gaara got in one final growl before getting up. 'This is only ring number seven in my personal hell. It could be worse and it's not going to take long. No one will dare bring this up again for fear of Shukaku. Yes, it's most certainly survivable.'

Knowing the song Temari had in mind wouldn't be in the song bank, he simply went strait into song. "I wish I had button eyes and red fat nose Shaggy cotton skin and just one set of clothes. Sittin' on the shelf in the local department store With no dreams to dream and nothing to be sorry for I wish I was a Teddy Bear not livin' nor lovin' or goin' nowhere I wish I was a Teddy Bear and I'm wishin' that I hadn't fallen in love with you…"

"Holy…"Naruto trailed off as he gazed up at the stage in a momentary stupor.

"Is that the boy from the Sand dojo?" Hinata questioned.

"Indeed, it is. I wonder what the story behind this could be?" Kakashi replied in amusement.

Sasuke snickered, "I didn't think he, of all people, would do such a stupid thing." He poked at the burger that had just been brought to him.

"Don't worry, Sasuke. You'll be up there before the night is over." Kakashi told him. "You all will." He said in response to the mixed looks he received from his statement.

"…I wish I had a string you'd pull to make me say hi I'm Teddy ain't it a lovely day Then I'd know every time I spoke the words were right And no one would know the mess I made in my life. I wish I was a Teddy Bear... And I'm wishin' I hadn't fallen in love with you." With that Gaara finished then stomped off the stage quickly, giving the desired impression that he didn't want to be up there to begin with. There was scattered applause here and there, but for the most part, a stunned silence was what proceeded his performance.

"Yeah, defiantly something to do with a bet." Itachi stated.

"E haz a lovely shingin' voice." Orochimaru said from the floor.

_**(A/N): Yep, still going strong! I had a debate with myself over just listing the translations to Kagome singing Utada Hikaru's Colors (forgive any mistakes while your at it… and I'm aware it isn't correct sentence structure) , seeing as how they were suppose to be speaking Japanese by default but then I remembered I put Thriller in English so I thought what the heck, confuse the readers more. And just for the sake of saying it isn't mine, Gaara was singing Tanya Tucker's Teddy Bear. **_


	5. Chapter 5

**_(A/N): OK so now you all know I'm not dead! And I will go ahead and say sorry for being such a procrastinator. _**

"We should go make our intentions known." Riku said while finishing off the rest of Sora's fries. "They've noticed we're here, so before they jump to conclusions-"

"Yeah. Come on, let's go." Sora said not even waiting for him to finish his sentence. The duo stood and went over to the table were Roxas, Axel and Demyx were seated. They were met by two cold stairs and one blank one.

"What do you want?" Roxas asked suspiciously, glancing over to Axel to see what his lead would be.

"Just to say that we're not here to start anything." Sora said holding out his hand for a truce.

Axel smiled and returned the gesture. "Smart move." He stated. "Why not sit over here? We're all tourists, why not stick together for the time being?" He invited.

Riku shrugged and accepted by sitting down next to Axel, leaving Sora the space beside Demyx. 'If this is some form of challenge then I agree to take it on.' He thought while popping his knuckles nonchalantly. "Alright Sora, you'd better go before someone else gets up to go next." Riku told him.

Sora paled. Demyx on the other hand lit up, "You're going to sing too?" He asked excitedly.

Sora shrugged, "I guess… I already said I would…"

"Good for you, but would you mind waiting?" The group turned to look at the man sitting at the table behind them. "I need to have at least one of my students go now, or else they might try and find a way to get out of going.

"That's perfectly fine with me!" Sora said loving the prospect of not having to go so soon.

"But Kakashi-sensei, who gets to go first?" The blonde asked eagerly. "I will!"

"How about you, Sasuke?" Kakashi said, his visible eye shining with a smile that was covered by his mask.

"Nah! Sasuke shouldn't get to go first! He's always privileged."

"Naruto… it's not really a good thing to go and make a fool out of yourself. There is nothing privileged about it!" Sakura said with a huff.

"Mind if I make a suggestion?" Axel asked, suddenly joining the conversation.

"Sure, so long as someone hurries it up and goes." Kakashi said brightly with a shrug.

"I'm thinking of a number… between one and ten. Pick one." He pointed to Hinata.

The girl adverted her eyes. "Um… seven."

"You?" He pointed to Sasuke.

"Three." He sighed. Axel went down the line and in the end Hinata won it. Much to her distress.

She blushed brightly and hung her head. "Shall I go now?" She asked risking a glance at Kakashi.

"Yes, hurry up before someone gets up there before you. Be sure and pick your favorite song." Kakashi instructed.

"My… favorite?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, Hinata! Go you!" Naruto said giving her an encouraging push.

Axel turned back to his own group and smiled. "Poor girl." He whispered.

Demyx shrugged, "I really don't see what the big deal is." He declared.

"I have to agree." Riku said with a smirk.

"Oh really?" Roxas asked. "Dose that mean you'll be having your own go at it?" He questioned. He suspected the other teen was bluffing.

Riku nodded, "Yeah that was part of the deal I made with Sora."

"I say you should all have a turn at it!" Demyx interjected. "I've already gone."

Axel shook his head, "Nah, I don't really feel like it."

"Why not?" Riku challenged.

Axel scoffed, "Because it's stupid and not worth my time!" He said.

"You have nothing better to do." Sora pointed out, finally deciding to speak again.

"Come on!" Demyx pressed.

Axel sighed. "Fine." He turned his eyes to the stage as music started. The girl, Hinata, griped the microphone tightly as she tried to make the heat leave her cheeks.

o0o

"Ish that the Hyuuga girl?" Anko asked, squinting up at the stage.

"Indeed, it is." Itachi answered directing his gaze to the place where the little girl stood with the microphone in her hands as she waited for the music to start.

"Who're we talkin' 'bout?" Orochimaru asked climbing back into his stool, literally, using the side of the bar to pull himself up.

"Shh, I want to hear this one." Itachi said with an evil smile on his face. "It doesn't look like she's up there of her own free will." He commented.

The music started and a second later she began. "I felt the hate rise up in me… kneel down and clear the stone of leaves… I wander o'er where you can't see... Inside my shell, I wait and bleed…" She sang in a normal tone then she continued with a little more force, "I felt the hate rise up in me… kneel down and clear the stone of leaves… I wander o'er where you can't see... Inside my shell, I wait and bleed… GOODBYE!" The last was yelled vehemently.

"I wipe it off on tile, the light is brighter this time! Everything is 3D blasphemy! My eyes are red and gold, the hair is standing straight up, this is not the way I pictured me! I can't control my shakes How the hell did I get here? Something about this, so very wrong... I have to laugh out loud, I wish I didn't like this. Is it a dream or a memory?"

Everyone dropped their jaws in disbelieve, this was far more unexpected than even Gaara's little performance. Gaara himself could even be seen a few tables away showing the same shock, not even trying to conceal it.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck and took a quick glance around him. All of his students wore the same expression of slight fear and amazement. He even looked over to the bar quickly, to see Orochimaru and his crew were also gaping.

The music blared hatefully as Hinata continued, "Get outta my head cuz I don't need this. Why I didn't I see this? I'm a victim - Manchurian candidate! I have sinned by just makin' my mind up and takin' your breath away…"

"Wow." Demyx let out in a gush as he gazed up at the once seemingly quiet girl. In his non-heart he made a silent declaration of love.

Sora, hearing Demyx, nodded in agreement, eyes still fixated on the pale eyed, slip of a girl on the stage.

"…You haven't learned a thing! I haven't changed a thing. My flesh was in my bones, the pain was always free! I've felt the hate rise up in me... Kneel down and clear the stone of leaves... I wander out where you can't see... Inside my shell, I wait and bleed... And it waits for you!" She finished and bowed her head, back to being meek. 'Oh godness...' It took all that was in her to fight the urge to faint.

_**(A/N): So I have to cut this one short because my brother wont leave me alone for the computer but (and this time I'm not kidding) I will update soon! Promise! Now… be sure and tell me what you think.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**(A/N): Told you it would be a fast update! Alright, everyone, quickly die from shock. No? Fine. Still, it is pretty weird to see me keep my word about an update. OK little reminder, the language is Japanese by default but some songs are English. When I use a song not in this language I'll list the translations. So even though it matches everyone's dialog that you're reading to them it's different. I'm not insulting your intelligence I'm just double checking so that there is no room for confusion. By the way the Japanese in this chapter is purposefully messed up. You can't expect a drunk to have it completely right. **_

"That's going to be hard to beat, Sesshomaru." Hojo said. He watched with curiosity as the little girl who had just finished preforming left the stage. "Any idea what she sung? My English isn't all that good and her pace was so fast I couldn't follow."

"I caught most of it and I rather liked it. The phrase wait and bleed were used often. From what I gathered it was about being demented." Sesshomaru commented.

"It was by Slipknot!" A random friend of Hojo's voiced.

"Anyway, Sesshomaru," Kagome yelled over the sudden eruption of applause for the girl, who was already back at her seat, "get up there! It's way past your turn!" She told him.

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and stood up. He arrived up at the place to pick out a song just as a young boy with spiky hair did. The other seemed hesitant but Sesshomaru, on the contrary, saw an opportunity. "Go ahead and take your turn before me." He said, and although his voice was passive his expression said otherwise.

"No, that's alright you go on." The boy said fumbling slightly with his words.

"You're being made to do this as well?" Even though it was formed as a question there was no doubt that it was a stated fact.

The boy shrugged, "Yeah and I don't have the slightest idea for a song! I'm not at all familiar with music from this wo- place."

"Indeed? I share the same misfortune." Sesshomaru replied. He knew he was stalling but what did it matter?

The spiky haired teen furrowed his brow. "Want to flip a munny to see who goes fist?" He asked after a moment.

"Beg pardon?" Sesshomaru had no idea what this kid was talking about.

"Here." The boy then began to fish around in his pocket but stopped as he was knocked off balance by someone pushing past him.

The new comer staggered a little prior to reaching his destination. "If you two 'er jus' goin' to stand there, then I'm going to sit, to stand up there first." He said. Sesshomaru recognized him as the man who's seat he had borrowed from earlier. The pale one with long dark hair that was so profoundly inebriated.

"Go right ahead." Sesshomaru told him. The man nodded as he chose a random song with out looking at it then proceeded to walk on stage.

"Well that solves that problem." The boy said brightly looking up at Sesshomaru with a smile.

"For the time being."

-Scene Change-

DiZ was very displeased. It had been two hours and Riku had still not retuned. "That boy's incompetence astounds me." He said out loud to himself as he backed away from his monitors. "I'll have to send somebody after them _all,_ it looks like."

He stood up and prepared to make the tedious trip to Hollow Bastion, where, when last he looked, reliable people could be found. "I'm sure Leon or someone would be willing to help retrieve the Key Barer." He mumbled.

-Scene Change-

Xemnas stormed down the hallway until he reached number Two's room. "Xigbar, are you in there?" He demanded as he pounded on the man's door.

Xigbar opened the door and looked at his superior with a questioning expression while he lazily worked on tying his hair back. "Do you need something?"

"Numbers Eight, Nine, and Thirteen have gone AWOL. You are here by on search and retrieve." Xemnas said then walked away with out giving the man time to protest.

"Where do I start?" He shouted at the other man's retreating form, utterly confused. Xemnas continued to walk and gave no reply. Xigbar slumped his shoulders, "Well this isn't going to be easy…"

-Mean While-

Itachi watched as Orochimaru pushed his way between the demon and some kid to picked a song. "Now is one of the those times when you really want a camera." He said.

Anko, having had her last drink the instant the timid Hyuuga began her yelling, nodded in agreement before putting her cheek in her hand to wait for her former sensei to begin. "Did 'e even take time ta pick out a shong?" She asked.

"Nope. And this spunky pop tune isn't very reassuring." Itachi noted as music started.

At that Anko began to giggle, "Thish 'ill be good."

"Sasuke, look!" Sakura pointed up to the stage as the weird guy from before took up the microphone.

"This night just keeps getting better…" Kakashi said. Even if it was sarcasm, inside he was having a great time. 'If only I had a camera…' He wished, mirroring Itachi's thoughts as the music began.

"I like this song!" Sakura proclaimed.

"You would." Naruto said covering his ears for fear of spontaneous bleeding.

"Daikirai datta… shobakasu wo chotto Hitonadeshite…err… tame iki wo hitotsu Hebi ikkyuu no koi wa migoto ni Kakuzatou to isshoni toketa Mae yori mo motto yasheta mune ni chotto "Chiku" tto sssshhasaru toge ga itai Hoshiuranai mo ate ni naranai wa Motto touku made isshoni yuketara nee…" Orochimaru sang with less of a slur than was to be expected. However he was still off beat badly, the song sped by as he tried to keep up. Despite his state, though, his singing was oddly pretty passable.

"Wow, Gaara, and I thought yours was going to be the only original performance." Kankuro said as the once highly regarded Lord Orochimaru threw his dignity away.

"Almost makes you want to have a turn at it." Temari stated with a smile on her face.

"What, are you serious?" Kankuro asked skeptically, giving his sister a doubtful glance.

"Well it's not like it doesn't look fun! And Gaara survived completely unscathed." She pointed out.

"True… everyone here is still alive…" Kankuro laughed, "Well if you want to give it a shot I'm not stopping you. You'll get nothing out of it though." He reminded.

Gaara, who'd remained silent up till now, spoke, "I think I _should_ destroy this place… Mother would be happy… She doesn't like this song at all anyway."

Temari and Kankuro cast each other worried glances before their eyes widened as the sound of laughter rose above the still off key Orochimaru. They turned to their brother, who wore an amused smile. "Paranoid people do not get far in life." He said as he leaned back into his seat in a relaxed manner.

"Gaara… made a joke?" Temari asked in bewilderment.

"Was it?" Kankuro asked doubtfully.

Their brother just let out another pleased chuckle, his eyes already back on the stage.

"…no kazu wo kazoetemiru Yogoretanui gurumi daite Mune wo shashu toge wa kienai kedo Kaeru-chan mo ushagi-chan mo… Waratte kureru no Omoi de wa itsumo…uh, kirei dakedo Sore dake ja onaka ga suku no Honto wa setsunai yoru nanoni Doushite kashira? Ano hito no namida mo omoi dasenai no? Omoidasenai no Doushitenano?" Orochimaru wrapped it up with a wide smile and tried for a bow but ended up falling over.

The crowd burst into laughter and applause.

"Sora was suppose to have went." Roxas pointed out trying to seem displeased. Really, though, the act that just finished was probably much better than what they were going to get out of Sora.

"That's alright. Look, he's going next!" Demyx pointed out.

"Are you alright, Orochimaru?" Itachi asked, not looking the man in the face as he returned to his chosen seat beside him.

"Hm?"

"Never mind." Itachi waved it off with his hand. "By the way, you are not getting any more to drink tonight unless it's water. I can't wait till you're sober again so I can see your reaction to what you just did."

"I dun know… I kinda like 'im like thish." Anko said with a goofy grin.

Itachi shook his head. "No more for you either." He told her.

"Oh I'd already de'shided that myshelf." She reassured him.

-Else Where-

"Xaldin!" Xigbar yelled as he finally found the other man. He was wondering around some dank old castle where he had an assignment. "You're coming with me." He said griping his cloak and pulling him through a dark portal without warning. This task was far more important than what ever he could have been doing previously, Xigbar decided.

"Hey!" Xaldin yanked his arm free. "What is wrong with you?"

Xigbar waved the question off and picked a random direction before saying, "Follow me."

"No." Xaldin replied attempting to turn around.

"Listen, Xemnas wants me to find Roxas, Axel, and Demyx. So you're going to help me."

"Oh, am I now?"

"Yes." With that he opened a random exit and pushed Xaldin through before he followed him. They both promptly landed in the ocean.

"I'm going to kill you."

"What are you talking about? I bet we're on the right world. Demyx loves water."

"Yet you have no idea where we are… this is NOT the way you go about finding someone!" Xaldin yelled pushing his wet dreadlocks out of his face. "Is this place even inhabited?"

"How could it not be?"

"I'm leaving."

Xigbar latched onto him to try and prevent his departure. He succeeded but also accomplished getting them both a mouth full of salt water.

"You're dead!" Xaldin shouted as he fought the other man off while struggling to keep himself from drowning, his cloak and boots were starting to weigh him down.

"Jade fish."

"Huh?" Xaldin managed to get out.

"Are you two okay?" A female voice asked.

The two men stopped thrashing about and turned to see a young red-head behind them looking both confused and intrigued.

Xaldin smiled and tried once again to remove his dreadlocks from his face. "Why hello." He said in a charming voice. "You wouldn't happen to have seen a boy with spiky hair, anoth-"

"You mean Sora?" She asked cocking her head to the side. She hadn't even let him finish!

"N-" Xigbar was about to protest but Xaldin quickly pushed him under.

"Yeah, Sora." He lied. 'Maybe that's what those three are doing, going after the Key Bearer on their own. One solid place to start would be to find him.' Xaldin thought. Xigbar fought his way to the surface and sputtered briefly before being able to breath properly again. He shot a dirty look at Xaldin but the man ignored it. Then he shot a dirty look at his hair, pulling it away from his throat as it tried to strangle him.

"I think Sora said something about going to a castle when he last left." The girl told them.

"Thank you." Xaldin said with a smile. "Now… you wouldn't know the quickest way to land would you?"

The red head pointed north and the two took there leave. "Don't you think it was weird to find a girl randomly in the middle of an ocean?" Xigbar asked as they swam out of ear shot.

"No. She was a mermaid."

"How do you know?"

Xaldin pointed behind him as the girl was in mid jump. Xigbar saw the fin as she finished a graceful dive and disappeared. "Oh…so where are we going?"

Xaldin sighed, agitated that he was now having to take charge of Xigbar's little mission. "To one of the only other castles I know of." He said. "Hollow Bastian."

-Scene Change-

Leon watched in bewilderment as the man paced the floor of Merlin's house. He wasn't sure who this stranger was but he seemed to want their help in something. Yet, he continued to evade their questions. Finally, he seemed to have reached a decision because he stopped and turned to him. "Would you be willing to go on a long mission?" He asked.

Yuffie shrugged, "What's in it for us?"

"Only one of you need go." The man corrected.

"What is it you would have done?" Leon asked.

"I would have you retrieve the Keyblade Master." The man said.

Aerith gasped, "He is missing?"

o0o

"Your landing was off." Xigbar noted snidely as the castle, their initial destination, was seen in the far distance.

Xaldin huffed at the statement. 'If it'd been him choosing we'd be on a different world entirely.'

"What do you mean the Keyblade squirt is missing?" A man yelled gruffly. This exclamation was followed by a swear.

The two Nobodies gazed at each other in confusion then turned to face the house were the voice seemed to come from. Crouching down below the window seal they listened in.

"Yes, Sora was following three Organization members. They are now on the far World of Earth, it is essential that they all get off of that place, it is very delicate according to my research on it." A vaguely familiar voice said.

Xigbar nearly shouted with joy. It had to be Axel, Roxas, and Demyx! "Looks like our jobs just got easier, we'll just follow them." He whispered.

Xaldin shrugged. He still didn't see how this became his job in the first place.

"I can give you the exact coordinates," The voice continued, "For I sent one of my own helpers after him before hand. However, it seems I placed to much trust in his competence."

"Alright, just show me how to get there and I'll get Sora back." A different male voice replied.

"Good."

_**The song translation [so far as the site said]: **_

_**I touched those hated freckles lightly and sighed,**_

_**My "heavy class" love has dissolved clearly**_

_**Just like a sugarcube.**_

_**The thorn stuck in my thin breast went in further**_

_**And hurt much more than before.**_

_**Astrology didn't predict that at all.**_

_**I wished we could go together farther,**_

_**It would be joyful enough to...**_

_**Memories are always beautiful,**_

_**But with only that you can't live.**_

_**Tonight should be a really sad night,**_

_**But why? Actually I can't remember his smiling face.**_

_**I understand breaking apart and putting back together**_

_**Because that's my personality;**_

_**With impatient feelings and uncertainty**_

_**Which nevertheless are capable of good love.**_

_**I pierced my left ear to forget,**_

_**It's an episode I can't laugh about.**_

_**Counting up the number of freckles**_

_**Embracing the spots and all**_

_**But the thorn piercing my breast won't disappear.**_

_**My stuffed frog and rabbit**_

_**Smile and comfort me.**_

_**Memories are always beautiful,**_

_**But with only that you can't live.**_

_**It was a really tough night**_

_**I wonder why though? Why can't I remember that person's tears?**_

_**I can't remember,**__**Why can't I? -Opening theme to Rurouni Kenshin**_

_**OK so more later. Tell me what you think! And if you have questions don't hesitate to ask!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**(A/N): -cries- Things are going to re-thinken, and just when I thought I was smoothing out the flow of things I go and throw more characters in! -sigh- reviews would be nice, it'd let me know if it's worth it. **_

_**Note #2: Quick question that has nothing to do with this story at all, who would want to buy "The Flavor of Love" unrated second season? I mean really. -rolls eyes-**_

_**Note #3: I have, if you haven't notice, made the Kingdom Hearts characters able to understand both English and Japanese. Technically, I guess they understand all languages or else there's a HUGE loop-hole in the game, what with them going to France, China, Greece, Africa, and etcetera. So let's just say it's a talent all these hot aliens possess. **_

"It's cold here," Xaldin complained. "And I'm still wet." He looked down at his boots as they squeaked to their own little tune, falling slightly out of sync with Xigbar's and his slightly longer strides.

"This guy looks confused." Xigbar commented, completely ignoring the other man's statement. He paused and watched as the brunette they'd been following for the last fifteen minutes came to a stop and looked up at a building before glancing down at something he held in his hands. "Think he's lost?"

"No." Xaldin pointed as the gun-blade wilder opened a door to a building and entered in. "Now, lets go so we can get off this crowded World." The city lights illuminated almost every foreign face that pasted them, suddenly making the man very uncomfortable in such a crowd. The two Nobodies followed suit and left the night time streets to promptly run into Leon's back as they entered the building.

o0o

Squall Leonheart doubtfully looked up at the building before walking into it and adjusting his eyes to the lighting. He was stunned to find Sora on a long elevated platform at the front of the building and singing. 'Sora can sing?' Was the first thing that popped into his mind. The next was, 'Why is Sora singing about a dark lord and shadows?' This caused him to stop in the door way as he listened to the words.

Sora didn't see him because he was focused on the lyrics screen in back, the lyrics in question were not what he had expected from a song called _Butterfly's Sleep _"…sono daichi wo yaki haraeba ii sono subete wo ubaiaeba ii" **_(I don't care if this world is reduced to ash and I don't care if we have to struggle for everything.)_** No not what he'd expected at all. " mou nido to anata no me wa kono utsukushii yoake wo utsusu koto mo kanai wa shinai inochi wo tabane sasagete mo **_(Even if I offer my own life, Your eyes will never again be graced with visions of a beautiful dawn)_** please rise from the dead on earth with my last kiss"

Leon blinked. He didn't care that throughout the first few words he'd felt that two men had run into him, they actually still stood behind him, seemingly as frozen in place as he was. He simply gaped up at the stage. 'Why is Sora singing such a song? I like it but … why is Sora singing? What is this place?'

"Uh, Xaldin?" Leon heard one of the men behind him ask. The man he spoke to shushed him and they all refocused on the Keyblade master.

"…itsu made mo sono negao wo shizukani mitsumeteita nemuri wo sasou yasashii kaze ga futari wo tsutsumu made kono koi wa toki wo koete anata no moto ni sakaseyouikusen no yoru to asa wo mukae dare no te ni mo todokanai chi de." **_(Forevermore I'll quietly watch that sleeping face until that gentle wind which tempts us to sleep surrounds me. This love will extend beyond time, I'll make it bloom for you. Living endless nights and mornings in a land where no one's hand can reach us.) _**Sora finished, and finding nothing else he could do, bowed to the audience that clapped for him. 'Well that was different. I wish I could have known what the song was about before I chose it…' He though as he walked down the short five steps off the stage. The tall man from before stopped him and he was mildly confused by it. "Yes?" He asked as he felt a hand grab his arm where he had been walking back to the table.

"Who was the original artist of the song you just sang?" The silver-haired male asked. He pointed to the machine that selected the music and lyrics and motioned Sora over to it. "If I am to go through with this, I'd like it to be by them. That song sounded tolerate able." He said.

Sora grinned, happy to help, "The name was L' Arc En Ciel." He went over to the glowing box and scrolled through it till he came back up to the section. "There you go." He said then turned around and left the man to his business. He managed to take one step then stopped as he saw a familiar face back at the entrance to the building. Three familiar faces, really, and all of them stared at him.

-Scene Change-

Hinata sat with her head down, her singing must have been horrible. Why had Kakashi specified to sing her favorite song? The good thing was none of the others were looking at her, on the contrary they all seemed happy to ignore her. Well, the people she knew anyway. One of the older boys at the table across from them kept waving to her from time to time trying to get her attention. Perhaps she hadn't been that bad? Or was his enthusiasm because he was anxious to make fun of her? Even though it was rude, she was determined to avoid him. "Hey Hinata, why does that guy keep waving at you?" Naruto suddenly whispered into her ear.

Hinata blushed, and shrugged her shoulders. Kakashi, overhearing them, turned to find the young boy who'd done the water clone technique earlier looking back from his seat. "Why wont she look at me?" He asked Kakashi when he saw the man turn around. "I was just going to congratulate her, she seems really embarrassed for some reason."

Kakashi stifled a chuckle, 'Hinata, shy and embarrassed? Never…' He shrugged and smiled, "There isn't much for it. Come on, Hinata, at least let him know you hear him." He said to the young ninja.

Hinata reluctantly met the older boy's eyes and he grinned, "That was a cool song you sang! And by the way, you shouldn't be so self-conscience." He told her encouragingly. That was before his attention was dragged elsewhere as the blonde beside him tapped his shoulder vigorously. "Xigbar! Xaldin! Eh heh, what are you guys doing here?"

o0o

After Sora finished his singing Leon glanced behind him and nearly drew his blade in surprise, two of the members of Organization XIII were standing there casually, looking for all the Worlds like they belonged there. "What are-"

"Hey, buddy, we're just here for them." The one with the scar said while pointing over to the table where three other members of their group where seated.

Leon gave them a doubtful look but nodded, "And I'm just here for him." He said pointing to Sora who was currently talking to an older male with long silver hair. "Any idea why they are all here together… and singing?" Leon asked, talking more than he'd normally care to and to the enemy, no less.

The two Nobodies shrugged. "We're about to find out," the one with long, jet black hair told him nonchalantly as he made his way over to the far table, for some reason, sloshing all the while. His friend soon followed, also sounding as if he'd went for a swim before hand.

Leon shook his head and strode over to cut Sora off from his intented destination. The young brunette blushed and looked down at his feet as if he'd just done something very wrong. "H-hey Leon." Sora said continuing to walk up to the man but not meeting his gaze. "What are you doing here?"

"Retrieving you." Leon replied bluntly.

Sora looked up at him quickly, "Is something wrong?" He asked worriedly. He'd feel awful if something happened to one of his friends while he was out having fun. When Leon shook his head in answer Sora's shoulders feel in relief. "Well, if there is nothing wrong, is it alright if we stay a bit longer? I mean, the Organization members here actually _aren't _causing any trouble and we we're having a good time…"

Leon quirked an eye brow, "What exactly are you doing? Why where you singing?"

"Demyx, that is that guy over there-" He paused mid sentence as he saw two taller cloaked figures with their backs to him hovering at the table he shared with Riku and the Nobodies, "What are they doing here? Never mind. Like I was saying, Demyx told me this place is a Karaoke café, and that it's whole purpose is for people to come and perform for others."

Leon crossed his arms and shook his head, "Seems a little pointless to me."

Sora waved his hand through the air and smiled, "Yeah, maybe, but it's got it's upsides. For instance, I was about to have Riku take his turn."

"Riku? Isn't he the friend you've been looking for?" Leon inquired.

Sora nodded happily, "Yeah! And you wouldn't believe how glad I was to see him again!"

o0o

Orochimaru sat pouting, while tracing his finger along the glass of water. Water! But he grudgingly admitted that if Itachi wanted it that way he'd have to bare through it because he was in no state to take on the other man… because he was lazy he decided. 'Yeah, not worth my time. Dime. Chime' He thought to himself as he stuck his tongue into the glass without bending over it. Also, if he'd had the mind to put a thought to it, alcohol poisoning couldn't have been too much further away at the rate he was downing the drinks.

"What ish you're problem?" Anko asked wrinkling her nose at her former sensei's behavior. "That has always been sho disgu'emustang." She told him, eyeing his overly long tongue.

Itachi rolled his eyes. 'I could always move to a different seat. Yet, somehow I find myself being amused by their drunken antics. Am I drunk as well? Surely I would know. I can compare myself to these two…' He looked to his left then his right then repeated the motion in a lesser fashion: expressing his opinion of the entire situation. He adverted his eyes to the stage when he heard a familiar voice coming form it. "Sesshomaru…"

**_(A/N): And I shall leave you here! -laughs evilly- This is very short, I admit, but the next chapter will be longer. So tell me what you think!_** **_Please?_**


	8. Chapter 8

_**(A/N): I truly hope I didn't kill LightsDarkChild. She said she was holding her breath in suspense … and, well, lord knows I took long enough getting this thing out. Thanks to all of you who review! It's one of the only things keeping this fic alive. **_

_**Note #2: The lyrics of Sesshomaru's are actually how the song goes [according to the site], no matter the way it looks. All Dead by L'ArcEnCiel. **_

"Um… so what _are _you guys doing here?" Roxas asked innocently looking up at numbers Two and Three. They were so busted, he realized.

"I'm going to go see what's keeping Sora" Riku said to Axel quickly while jumping up and walking away in hast. He sensed the awkwardness of staying for the oncoming conversation. Meandering between the tables, Riku made his way to the place towards the front where Sora stood talking to the man he knew of as Leon. "What's up?" He asked nonchalantly once he reached them.

"I'm trying to see if he'll let us stay for a while longer." Sora informed the aqua-eyed teen as he came to a stop beside him. He then turned his attention back to the older male in front of him, "Come on, Leon… there's no harm being done."

"The others are worried about you." The man said blandly.

"Well, call them and tell them everything is fine. Surly you all have a way of keeping in touch out side of talking face to face." Riku suggested, jumping into the conversation. He really didn't feel like going back to his duties just yet, neither was he thrilled to test if this World's effects on his appearance were permanent or not.

The sound of a piano started then guitars joined and Sora turned away from his companions to face the stage again as his new found acquaintance prepared to sing. He watched as the man tucked his claw-like thumbs into his faded pants pockets. Sora had seen too many things than to take the time and ask questions like _why_ the man had claws to begin with.

o0o

He was lord of the Western Lands of Japan. He was one of, if not the strongest youkai ever. And now... well, now, he was about to sing for the amusement of some young girl. He could sing well, he knew, that was not what bothered him at all. What really got under his skin was the fact that he really didn't care! If he really hadn't wanted to be there, then there would be no one to make him. Of that he was sure. He was upset at not being pissed as the music started and he began. "It's time to fall, it's time to say goodbye. I wish you're gone, I wish you're all dead. Kienai omoi…" Well at least it was a song that seemed to fit his personality. "…Onaji kizuato tsuke wo onaji kutsuuwo kare nimo ataete agetai mukedasenai akumu wo ima sugu kare nimo wakete agetai Kurisou na kyoufu wo nando mo kanawanu negai…" **_(Insert the same scar I want to give you the same agony and I want to give you unavoidable nightmares. Right now one and once again the crazy horror: the desire that is impossible) _**

Kagome sat open mouthed as she stared in disbelief up at the stage. Not only was he actually going through with it, he sounded great! His deep and assured voice probably didn't even need the microphone. The black T-shirt and the jeans weren't as imposing as his armor but there was no denying that he was every bit the demon she knew him as. She realized she was gawking like the teenager with a crush that she was, but she didn't care.

Hojo was aware of her expression as well and he turned away and suppressed the sigh of disappointment that threatened to come forth. 'It just wasn't meant to be…' He thought to himself as he looked back at Sesshomaru. Dejectedly, he rested his chin in his palm and continued to scrutinize the man who'd bested him for Kagome's affection.

-Scene Change-

"He's shexy." Anko said dreamily as she let her glassy eyes trail over Sesshomaru.

Orochimaru, who was up till that point still playing lazily with his glass of water, jerked his head up and turned to her so swiftly that his neck popped in the process. "I am sssssoooo more sexier!" He exclaimed defensively. Anko was suppose to be obsessed with him still! Not some odd guy with unnaturally long hair and weird marks on various places. He didn't seem to catch the humor in the similarities between himself and this stranger.

Itachi shook his head and smirked. The alcohol had slowly but surly been putting him in a better mood, "I'm afraid I have you both beat anyway. It is painfully clear that I am the sexiest man on the planet."

"I th'nk not!" Orochimaru protested. Anko giggled at the sight of the distain on his face. " 'Sides, you'd scare 'way all the girls even if were." He told him then he added as an after thought, "You're not."

"Look who's talking Mr. Twenty-Yard-Tongue." Itachi said with a laugh. "Most women are afraid of snakes, anyway."

Orochimaru giggled, "Ah but not mine."

Anko reached across the Uchiha and slapped the other man for his inappropriate innuendo. "Don' be crude." She scolded. "You're prob'ly givin' yourself too much credit anyway."

"Care to-" Orochimaru began but was cut off as Itachi swatted him in the back of the head.

-Scene Change-

"So all you do is sing and listen to others sing?" Xigbar asked with a raised eyebrow after having heard Demyx's explanation as to where they were.

"It's a restaurant type place, too." Roxas added hoping to make the idea of staying longer more enticing to them.

"Why don't you stick around for a while? We're not leaving anytime soon. This World is a nice place for a break, don't you think?" Axel asked boldly.

Xaldin smiled, now that was more like. A short vacation was just what he needed. "Xemnas will get over it." He said as he plopped down in the seat Riku had abandoned. Xigbar shrugged and nodded, taking the seat that was Sora's earlier. He too seemed to like the idea.

Demyx smiled wide at their victory, "After Sora's friend goes, Axel was going to sing!" He blurted before taking another long sip of his coke.

"Really now?" Xaldin asked in amusement.

Axel shot the Melodious Nocturne a dirty look and grumbled something under his breath.

"Hate to interrupt again but might I ask if you'd wait a bit longer after the boy goes so that another one of my students can go?" The man from the table behind Demyx asked. Kakashi was laughing evilly on the inside. He could tell the red head didn't want to perform and that was just another good excuse to get one of his reluctant ninjas to go.

Axel looked at him and the relief almost bled through his mask of cocky, calm composure. "Sure why not." He said sounding indifferent while doing a mental jig of joy.

-Scene Change-

"…all dead, all dead." Sesshomaru finished. He flicked his hand out from his forehead in a motion that resembled a mock solute then he walked of stage as the applause of those who'd been listening followed up his act. There was also a few catcalls from some of the females in the audience, the woman named Anko was one of them, he noted.

"That was great, Sesshomaru!" Kagome gushed as he returned to his seat beside her. "Although, you sure picked a demented song."

The youkai gave an elegant shrug before going back to his drink without comment. He was fully aware of the glare Hojo was giving him.

-Scene Change-

Leon sighed in defeat as he hung up his mobile. The man who'd actually sent him on the mission to find Sora and the Organization members gave quite a fuss when he heard that the Keyblade Master wanted to stay; but, after he'd explained the entire situation in detail the mystery man relented. So, now Leon let the spiky-haired brunette lead him back to the far tables to get a seat.

"Looks like our spots are taken." Riku said with a shrug as he reclaimed the table he and Sora had been sitting at originally.

"Sorry about your seats!" Demyx called to them after catching that they'd returned.

"It's no problem." Sora assured him.

"Isn't your friend going to go?" The Organization member with an eye patch questioned while jerking a thumb in the direction of the empty stage.

"Oh hey, yeah!" Sora said enthusiastically as he pulled Riku back up from his seat to push him back the way they'd just come.

"Oh… sorry for talking over you guys, that's really rude, I know." He said turning his attention to the group at the booth between his table and theirs.

"Ah, it's no problem!" The blonde in orange said with a wave of his hand. It wasn't like he and his friends were listening anyway.

Naruto turned his attention back to Sasuke and Sakura as they prepared to decide who would be next. "On three." Sakura said determinedly. The two boys nodded and they all balled their hands into fists. None of them wanted to win -except maybe Naruto- but this way, there was no way to cheat one's way out of going.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Hinata laughed as she observed the results and Sakura's distressed reaction.

"Looks like both of the girls are getting their turns over with." Kakashi said with a grin.

Naruto groaned, "Man when do I get to go?"

"Why don't you just let him?" Sasuke questioned.

"Because Sakura won it fair and square." Kakashi said with a chuckle.

-Scene Change-

"Hey Itachi…why don't you 'n I shing a song together? Know tha' one song by the German guy? Or maybe he was Russian… doesn't matter. Anyway that one song with the dinging of dongs and such?"

Itachi nearly spit out his drink. "I don't think so."

Orochimaru slapped him on the back, "An' why not?" He asked with a wry yet lopsided grin.

Itachi rolled his eyes and took another drink. "I'll think about it." He said sarcastically.

"Alright!" Anko cried happily and latched onto him in a hug. That was basically like saying yes, anyway. This was going to be awesome, she could feel it.

_**(A/N): Okay you know the drill, reviews are much appreciated and I love to hear your all's opinions of this thing. Until next time!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**(A/N):Hmm… relatively swift update, no? For me it is. **_

_**Note #2: It hasn't been asked but I think I made the seating arrangements for the three connected booths in back a little hard to follow. All three tables are semicircles and connected from the side. From left to right working around the seats we have Xaldin on the end then Roxas, Axel, Demyx and Xigbar. Middle table: Sasuke on the end, then Sakura Kakashi, Naruto and Hinata. Last we have Leon then Sora- Riku has yet to sit down. **_

Demyx climbed over Xigbar hurriedly as an idea suddenly struck him. "Sorry!" He hastily told the man as number Two grimaced under his weight. Demyx was fairly certain that he would catch that Riku guy in time to suggest a song. He ran up to where the other boy stood staring at the music selection.

"…don't know any of these." Riku muttered under his breath. A lot of the songs sounded cool, but a person couldn't be too careful. He looked up as he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Need some help?" Demyx asked. "I happen to know a lot of songs from this world. There is one bit of music that I've been wanting to hear again and if you sang it we'd both win. You would get a song that would humiliate you and I'd get to listen to one of my favorites."

Riku looked at him skeptically, "Was the song _you_ sang one of your favorites too?"

Demyx nodded but was quick to elaborate after catching the look on his face, "But this isn't anything like that one. Different style and everything. Here, move over and I'll see if it's even a choice." He gently pushed Riku out of the way so that he could stand beside him as he stooped over the screen.

"What's this song called anyway?" Riku questioned.

-Scene Change-

"Hey, check out the cutie who's going next." Temari said while poking Kankuro in the arm. Her brother sighed and turned to look at whoever she was referring to.

"Yeah so? Why should I care?" He asked while grapping her finger so she'd stop prodding him.

Temari huffed, it was so hard on a girl when the only people she really associated with were her brothers.

"Why don't you just go and talk to him once he's finished?" This unexpected suggested came from Gaara, who unceremoniously tossed another French-fry into his mouth from the plate he'd ordered. His siblings looked at him suspiciously, he usually wasn't in any kind of a good mood unless he'd just beaten someone into a pulp; yet, here he was calm as ever and seeming to be enjoying himself. "Don't waist your time drooling over him from way over here, it gets nothing accomplished. Pointlessness gets on my nerves." He added as a way of giving an answer to his helpful suggestion to Temari.

"What would I say, though?" Temari half whined, slipping out of her usual witty and collected self. She was actually asking Gaara for advice, that just added onto the list of uncharacteristic things she'd done so far.

"Why are you asking Gaara? His idea of romance is probably giving someone a still beating heart." Kankuro said with a chuckle, unintentionally he glanced out of the corner of his eye to make sure he hadn't angered his brother.

"That never works…" Gaara replied while dipping another fry into his depleting supply of ketchup.

Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances before giving Gaara yet another strange look. "Well anyway…" Temari said deciding to change the topic of conversation, "he's about to start!"

-Scene Change-

"Hey!" Sora called out to Demyx as he made his way back to his table with a satisfied smirk on his face. "What did you and Riku talk about?"

Demyx turned to him and shrugged, "I just helped him pick out a song." He said before returning to the booth. Xigbar stood up this time and let him into his seat without pain to his person.

"It's so weird to see them like this." Leon remarked, glancing over at the table of Nobodies. It was begining to get hard to continue to demonize them.

"Hm? Like what?" Sora asked, not knowing what the man meant.

"Like normal people." He said, lifting an eyebrow as he watched their antics. One of the older men, the one with dreaded hair, for some reason had pushed Sora's Nobody, causing the blonde to knock heads with the red-haired teen. Leon tapped his fingers against the table in slight agitation at the thought that their supposed enemies sat just a foot or so away enjoying themselves.

"You should loosen up, Leon." Sora told him upon seeing how tense the man seemed. "You kn-" He stopped short as Riku took the stage as music started.

o0o

Riku adjusted the microphone and had just barely finished with that before the music started quickly, forcing him to begin. "I'm just a normal boy who sank when I feel over board. My ship would leave the country but I'd rather swim ashore. Without a life beside me stuck again, wish I was much more masculine, maybe then I could learn to swim like fourteen miles away. Now floating up and down I spend colliding into sound like whales beneath me diving down. I'm sinking to the bottom of my everything that freaks me out, the lighthouse beam has just run out. I'm cold as cold as cold can be. Be." Riku read the lyrics flawlessly while skimming ahead and keeping tempo nicely. He wasn't sure if he had the beat 100 percent right but he used the music as a clue and by the lack of boos he figured he was doing good enough.

"…sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean. Let the waves up take me down, let the hurricane set in motion, yeah, let the rain of what I feel right now come down, let the rain come down. Where is the coast guard I keep looking each direction for a spot light, give me something I need something for protection maybe flotsam junk would do just fine, the jetsam sunk I'm left behind…"

"Ooh, he has a cute voice too." Temari gushed. "But what's he singing? Do you think he only speaks English? He looks Japanese."

"Please Temari, stop acting like such a girl." Kankuro told her in a false exasperation. She knew he was only messing with her so she shoved him in the arm playfully.

"At least I'm not like this all the time." She said before going back to listening to the older teen.

"…now waking to the sun I calculate what I had done like jumping from the bow, yeah, just to prove that I knew how yeah. It's midnight's late reminder of the loss of her the one I love, my will to quickly end it all set front row in my need to fall. Into the ocean end it all, into the ocean end it all, into the ocean end it all, into the ocean end it all." He paused like the lyric screen told him to and female voices that were already on the track echoed him. "I want to swim away but don't know how, sometimes it feels just like I'm falling into the ocean. Let the waves up take me down, let the hurricane set in motion, yeah, let the rain of what I feel right now come down, let the rain come down." The female voices came again but he read to sing over them, "Into space, I thought of just your face." The music ended and Riku dramatically bowed, causing the audience, like every act before hand, to applaud loudly.

"Alright, go." Gaara said, boredom lacing his words. He reached over and pushed Temari as she got up out of her seat, unintentionally, or maybe not, causing her to fall from the force.

"Better hurry up if you want to catch him alone." Kankuro said.

Temari shook of their joking manners and strode forward with an air of confidence, after collecting herself. Once she reached the boy she calmly blocked his bath. "Hi." She said silkily. "Do you speak Japanese?" She asked.

Riku shrugged, "Is that what you're speaking?" He asked in the same language. He really didn't know what such things were called here. His answer caused the girl to laugh.

Leon chuckled as he looked ahead at Sora's friend, Riku, who seemed perplexed about the young lady that was talking with him. Then he glanced over and saw the look that Sora himself wore: an expression of confusion. "Looks like your friend has his first groupie." Leon joked lightly. Slowly but surely he had allowed himself to unwind. In fact, he was finding himself greatful for the pause in stress. He'd get back to war and brooding when he had too, it wasn't in his nature to neglect his brooding side, after all, but he couldn't deny himself a well earned break.

Sora shuddered. He never liked the term groupie, or the thing it represented. He'd once gone to a concert in Twilight Town and had gotten a nasty taste of the fan girls. 'She'd better not be a groupie.' He thought sourly while giving Riku a sympathetic look.

-Scene Change-

"Alright, come on!" Anko said while tugging at Itachi's collar. She tried in vain to pull the man up from his seat but he remained stubborn.

"I'm not drunk enough yet." Itachi replied. It was a valid excuse in his book but apparently not in Orochimaru's. The other man boldly turned and shoved him off his stool. Luckily for Itachi, the alcohol hadn't dulled his reflects to the point that he couldn't catch his balance.

"Trus' me, you don' want to go up there too drunk. You can't not see the words good that way." Orochimaru told him.

"Let's go already! Before someone else gets up there first." Anko pleaded.

"Are you sure that's the song you want to sing?" Itachi ventured as he shot a glare at Orochimaru for getting him up.

"Yeah, it's sooo funny!" Anko answered as she grabbed the poor Uchiha by the wrist to drag him along.

Itachi freed his hand and walked with faltering dignity behind the slightly swaying woman.

-Scene Change-

"Okay Sakura, your turn!" Naruto announced enthusiastically. One of the people from the table behind Sasuke and Sakura cleared his throat for their attention.

"It looks like she just lost her chance." The cloaked man said with a crooked smile.

"Isn't that your brother, Sasuke?" Hinata asked timidly.

The younger Uchiha turned and nearly yelled in astonishment. Itachi was going to sing? And who was that with him… the exam proctor? "Yeah that's him." He finally managed to reply.

"This could be great blackmail." Naruto suggested.

Sasuke shrugged, "I doubt it." He grumbled, then pointed to his sensei, "He plans on making me go up there as well so Itachi will have something to use against me if I tried."

"But, at least you're not going next." Sakura grumbled. "What am I going to sing?"

"If my guess about this tune is right then I don't think it will matter what you sing, Sakura, because everyone will still be reflecting this performance too much to care." Kakashi said with a grin as he looked up at the stage.

Itachi decided against acting like he didn't want to be there, because, then no matter what the reasons really were he would seem weak because he wasn't able to get out of it. So, he was just going to have to play it off as if he was having a fairly good time and just doing it for kicks; not the truth of the matter, which was him about to toss his dignity away similar to how Orochimaru had done. Yet, his case was worse, he wasn't even drunk! 'Oh shit… Sasuke is still here.' He realized as he looked out at the people in the audience. It was too late to get out of his situation, though, because Anko had already selected the song and was joining him on stage.

A malicious idea came to Itachi as the music began, he'd already missed his cue for the fist line of the song but there was a musical interlude before he had to repeat it and as he did so he pointed to his brother, "Oh you touched my tra la la. Mmm my ding ding dong."

As he expected all eyes in the place turned to look at Sasuke and Itachi smirked to himself as the boy turned red in the attention. He turned at the feel of Anko jabbing him in the side, she wore a goofy grin and winked at him. His smirk widened as he turned back to the people to continue singing. He didn't need to look at the lyrics, he and Anko knew this song well. A bad collage party a few years back was to blame for it. "Deep in the night, I'm looking for some fun. Deep in the night, I'm looking for some love. Deep in the night, I'm looking for some fun. Deep in the night, I'm looking for some-" Itachi noticed with much amusement as he glanced up to look at it; that the blue screen in back actually said 'beep' to correspond with the noise that came over to cover up the obscenity.

Anko leaned forward into the microphone to sing her part. She had on a bright smile and one could tell she was trying not to giggle, "You tease me oh please me; I want you to be my love toy. Come near me, don't fear me. I just can't get enough of you, boy."

"Oh, you touched my tra la la. Mmm my ding ding dong."

o0o

'He's going to die, he's going to die, he's going to die…' Sasuke thought fiercely as he gripped the table so tightly it was starting to crack under his fingers. Even though almost everyone had turned away from him to look back at the stage once the Anko woman started singing, Sasuke was still embarrassed.

"I'm not paying for damages." Kakashi warned. "Leave the poor table alone."

_**(A/N): So what do you think? Riku performed Blue October's "Into the Ocean" and Anko with Itachi are singing Gunther's "The Ding Dong Song". I seem a little bais as to how much of one song I'll actually write the lyrics down for don't I? I don't mean to... Well anyway, is this good enough for you? There'll be more next chapter and Sasuke does plan on getting a most fitting revenge.**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**(A/N): I'm baaaaack! And I'm going to try to shove in three more characters… yay? Anywho, sorry for the long wait. **_

"You want to come back and sit with us, my brothers and me?" Tamari asked while fitting the urge to just latch onto the boy, which was difficult for someone who is used to getting their way.

"Nah, I'm here with a friend and he's got some abandonment issues so I'd best stay with him." Riku replied. "But I guess if you wanted to, you could sit with us." He offered while pointing to his table. 'Why did I just do that…?'

"I might join you later," The girl was looking in the other direction at a red-head boy who was beckoning her, "but right now my brother wants me."

Riku just shrugged and walked back to where Sora and Leon where waiting for him. As he returned to his seat he opened his mouth to say something to his friends but the words died in his mouth as his attention was pulled elsewhere. The door to the building flew open dramatically and an oddly dressed man waltzed in, "Jiraiya is in the house!" He proclaimed loudly.

Naruto's jaw fell slack. He lifted an accusing finger at the door then slammed his hand into the table, "Hey, nobody cares!" He yelled at the man who'd just entered. This outburst drew the attention away from the newcomer and to the young blonde.

Naruto's ear twitched as he caught a comment from the table behind him while he fought off Jiraiya's glare. "Man, this World has some strange people."

"Hey Jiraiya!" Anko yelled from the stage, she and Itachi had just finished their song and were about to head back to their stools. "Long time no see!"

The white haired man pulled his gaze away from the loud mouthed kid and turned a cheery smile to the woman up front. Meanwhile, Itachi beat a hasty retreat from the stage as the eyes shifted once again and he made up his mind that he was sick of being the center of attention. As he departed he caught sight of the smirk on the demon Sesshomaru and involuntarily shrugged his shoulders as if to answer an unspoken question. As it was, that was probably the case.

'I should just leave. It really isn't worth it.' Itachi thought to himself. Yet, he sat himself down beside Orochimaru again anyway. He noted, vaguely, that the man who'd been on the left of Orochimaru had gone. 'I should follow his example.' However, he just asked the bartender for some apple juice.

-Scene Change-

"Hey Xaldin," Xigbar said suddenly, "You know wh-"

"No." The other man said flatly not even letting him finish.

"Oh come on, hear me out." Number Two pleaded with a lopsided grin on his face.

"You're going to say something stupid like, 'hey why don't you go sing too?' aren't you?" The whirlwind lancer questioned.

"That's just creepy." Was Xigbar's only response.

"I think you both should!" Surprisingly, the suggestion came not from Demyx but from Roxas. The boy's superiors shot him inquisitive looks and he lifted a shoulder in reply. "It was only a thought." He finished nonchalantly. "I mean, if we all did it that would lessen the likelihood for black mail."

Xaldin gave a dry chuckle, "Who's to say?" He challenged. Roxas rolled his eyes and dropped out of the conversation.

Axel seamlessly took up his friend's spot, "I think I could get you _both_ up there." There was a predatory glint in his eyes.

Xigbar only snorted, "Doubt it dude. You're still on thin ice with us higher ups because of that Castle Oblivion thing."

Axel's previous thoughts where pushed back at this comment as he quickly went to defend himself, "What do you mean? I was _helping_ the Organization. Marluxia was a little fruitcake and I'm sure no one is sorry to see Larxene go. My involvement to sabotage those two was nothing but good."

"Yeah but you killed Vexen." Xaldin pointed out.

"I'm also inclined to believe that was for the better," Axel said defensively. "Besides, I thought the Superior said he's let it slide?"

"Eh," Both older men replied. "Even so, it'd still put you at a disadvantage for whatever black mail you were about to try and use." Xigbar pointedly stated.

"Oh, I doubt that." Axel replied, the light in his eyes once again. He was feeling quite pleased with himself and very confident. "Does Xemnas know who set his office on fire?" He glanced at Xaldin and chuckled at his expression. Axel had had an alibi in Luxord at the time the aforementioned incident occurred thus clearing his name because, naturally, all blame was to be put on him for the unexpected flames. Roxas had been the one to catch number Three in the act, but he and Axel agreed that it would be best to save that information for later. Currently, Roxas had a bemused smile on his face. Up until then he had forgotten the whole event. Leave it to Eight to have the mind to bring something like that into play.

"Or, " Demyx spoke up suddenly putting his two cents in, "does Xemnas know who _really_ tampered with that last experiment?" He gave a wry smile at Xigbar and received an approving grin from Axel and Roxas.

Xaldin gave a humorless laugh," Well, looks like they haven't survived their time with the Organization by luck alone, the conniving little brats."

-A Few Blocks Away-

"Seems like that lead was a waste." A tall and well dressed man said to his partner as he lit up another cigarette. "That one didn't even look legitimate. Train, why did I let you talk me into it?"

"The hell if I know." Came the light hearted reply. "Hey, Sven?" His partner raised his eye brow in acknowledgement so he continued, "Think they have any cheep places to eat in this city?" He grinned and tucked his hands into his pockets. There was a few crumpled sheets of currency there. 'Enough.' He thought while he waited for the green haired man to respond.

"I suppose we'll just walk till we find something." Came Sven's answer at last. "You, of course, could probably be content with the content of that dumpster over there."

Train laughed as he sidestepped a rude man who didn't seem to be watching where he was going. "If that dumpster were outside of a five star restaurant I would almost be inclined to agree with you." He said jokingly.

"We could try that place." Sven said pointing to a building as the crossed the street. The word Café was in the neon banner, so they would have to serve food there, right?

-Inside "That Place"-

"Alright, Sakura, go." Anko had finally left the stage, having realized it would be easier to carry on a conversation out of sight of the annoying glares and at close distance with Jiraiya and was now sitting with him at the bar. "Your turn." Kakashi said.

With a lowered head, the girl stood up.

_**(Disclaimer): I do not own anything from Black Cat. **_

_**(A/N): Okay the next chapter will be out shortly I promise. You'll not get it though unless I get four reviews for this chapter and I know you can do it. I need feed back people! I don't know if I'm pushing it by adding in more people.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**(A/N): Sorry for the wait. I'm really bad at fast updates huh…**_

Train slammed the menu down as a big grin spread across his face, "Hot damn, lets eat!" Sven was half expecting him to bust into a little jig.

"Let's hurry and eat because I don't want to spend any more time than I need to listening to other people's poor taste in music."

Train cocked his head in confusion but hen jumped and nearly pulled out his gun as someone started singing.

"How did you manage to smuggle that thing in here?" A young red-head boy from the table adjacent to them asked.

"Because, I'm just great like that." Train replied. "What the hell is this child singing?" He abruptly questioned, directing his attention to the stage where a girl with pink hair was singing.

"Lord only knows." The same boy replied. It was then Train noticed the tattoo on his forehead.

"Love the tattoo," the sweeper commented, intending the pun about it's meaning. The child just nodded and then the lot of them turned their eyes back to the platform.

"Koi wo shite owari wo tsuge Chikau koto wa kore ga saigo no HEARTBREAK Sakura sae kaze no naka de Yurete yagate hana wo sakasu yo…" Sakura sang. She was having an even harder time at not being timid than even Hinata. But then again _Hinata _wasn't singin to someone in particular. "Furidashita natsu no ame ga Namida no yoko wo tootta sutto Omoide to DABURU eizou Aki no DORAMA no saihousou."

"Man , she sure seems nervous." Naruto stated the obvious.

Sasuke shrugged and nodded, starring down at the table. "You'd think she wouldn't have such a hard time at it, she should be used to making a spectacle of herself."

"That's awful!" Hinata said coming to the other girl's defense.

"Are you even listening to the song?" Kakashi questioned. "I'm fairly certain she has an intended audience for this one." The man said with a smirk in his voice.

-In an Alternate Universe-

Xemnas paced aimlessly around the Proof of Existence, "Why aren't they back yet?" He finally allowed himself to ask. At this point he almost expected the air to answer him, yet he jumped a little when it actually did.

"Because, they are idiots." Wait, not the air, Saix, Xemnas corrected himself.

"We're missing five of our members!" Xemnas growled. "That's over half of us, thanks to that damn castle oblivion incident." The former Xehanort could almost swear that he was pissed. "Don't they realize we have work to do?"

"I could send Luxord after them…do we know where they are?"

"No. And don't send number Ten. If they're all just out being stupid he'd probably just join them rather than bring them back. _You_ go after them."

Saix knew better than to show that he doubted the other man's intelligence but he couldn't stop the next words, "The hell?"

"You dare question orders?" Xemnas inquired threateningly.

"Well, yeah! I mean, you don't have any leads whatsoever. How do we even know that Two and Three made it to those silly teenagers?" The diviner's temper was starting to perk.

"Go look for clues then, or something, if you're so picky."

"Picky? I'm merely being reasonable, sir!" Saix felt dirty after actually calling him by that title. With his current mood, to show any hierarchical respect left a bad taste in his mouth. He, who was never bound by such things before, now nearly submitting to another person? If he didn't need something from him then he'd have already killed Xemnas. What was it again that they were suppose to be missing? A heart? Somehow Saix was beginning to wonder that with the absence of such a thing necessarily meant absence of emotion. He sure _seemed_ angry.

Xemnas was already gone by the time Saix looked up from glaring at the poor undeserving floor. The superior's footsteps could be heard echoing off the metallic walls of their bastion as he retreated. Saix decided he needed to calm himself. He laced his fingers through his blue hued locks and tugged at them for a moment as he breathed deeply. 'Maybe little Demyx is right and we do still have our hearts. Perhaps, we're missing something else…like our spleens.' He thought to himself. That'd done the trick, he was feeling much better after attempting humor, even if it was poorly executed. An A for effort, nevertheless.

Now, to find out where the others had gone, and just to spite Xemnas he'd bring Luxord with him. No doubt the man would be grateful to be pulled away from whatever bogus World Xemnas sent him to.

-Back on Earth. Specifically, a café in Tokyo-

Sakura scuffled swiftly from the stage and Xaldin stood up and grabbed Axel by the arm to pull the young red-head up. "Your turn!"

_**(trans): **__**Falling in love, saying goodbye with a vow that this is the last heartbreak**_

_**Even the cherry tree, swaying in the wind will eventually blossom. The summer rain that started to fall gently streaked past my tears images that resemble memories autumn's drama reruns. "Sakura Drops" by Utada Hikaru**_

_**(A/N): Sorry once again another short chapter.**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**(A/N): By the way, don't know if I've done this already and I'm too lazy at the moment to simply go back and check, but a special thanks goes out to hanakitsunechan who has reviewed every chapter so far as I know. You're awesome! **_

Axel locked his legs and latched onto the table, "Wait! I don't know any songs from this world!" He protested as his superior began to tug him away from the booth.

"I'm fairly certain that we all have that problem." Xaldin replied, unmoved.

"Not me!" Demyx bragged.

"No one cares." Xigbar informed the young musician off-handedly. The aged sniper had bemused smile on his scared face as he watched his subordinates' antics.

Quickly losing patience and being physically stronger that number Eight, Xaldin simply lifted the young fire elemental up and tucked him under his arm. "I admire your tact." The silver-haired man from before commented from his seat as Three made his way up to the stage with his burden. The stranger gave Xaldin a two finger salute with his menacingly clawed fingers. Xaldin simply smirked and nodded at the other man. It was nice when people took the time to appriciate the little things.

"Are you aware of how big a scene you are making?" A now docile Axel asked critically.

The lancer chuckled as he put the young man down. "We're not going to see any of these people again. Who cares?"

"Well, technically…" Axel trailed off, hoping that those two words alone would suffice to get his point across. They'd be seeing three of them again, for sure. It didn't look like it mattered, though, because Xaldin had his foot on Axel's cloak to keep him from walking off as he bent over the machine to select a song. "Do you know anything from here?" He decided to ask the older man. It almost looked like number Three knew what he was doing.

"I've seen one or two songs to which I believe myself familiar. Saix found transmissions from a place similar to this and I've already made some connections. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same World the signals came from."

"It is." Axel told him, he was slightly impressed with Xaldin's observance.

"Hm."

"What are you picking out? Here, no, let me do it!" Xaldin moved aside and let the red head look over the screen. "Oh, this looks fun." He said within that same second as a song title caught his eye.

-Scene Change-

"So, I missed your singing?" Jiraiya asked before swallowing his sake. He took off his heavy orange over shirt and tied it around his waist.

"Yesh. I made Itachi shing with me!" Anko replied triumphantly. She pushed her indigo bangs away from her flushed cheeks and brought her face closer to Jiraiya's "Don't tell him, but," She stole a glance at the man now sitting two seats away (she'd lost her spot during the time it took to get back) and grinned, "Itachi hash a really sexy voice."

Jiraiya smirked, fighting the urge to take advantage of the woman's drunkenness and proximity. He distracted himself by bragging, "You know, I have a pretty sexy singing voice myself." He tossed his long, ivory ponytail over one shoulder and then struck a pose.

Itachi leaned back from his stool to look at the two questioningly, "Did she say I had a sexy voice?"

Jiraiya was about to nod in affirmation but he soon found the only thing in his line of vision was the polished brown wood of the bar's counter top. 'Ow.' Anko had slammed into him in hopes of keeping him silent. The woman in question giggled loudly, "No!"

"How many times are you going to say that before the night is out? Didn't you make the same comment about that Sesshomaru character?" Itachi pressed. Said demon could be seen a few tables away looking ever so grateful that the people around him were finally leaving.

Anko called the Uchiha's attention back to her by saying, "So what? Both times it been true."

Itachi simply rolled his eyes before leaning forward again. "I think she likes you." Orochimaru offered with a grin.

-Scene Change-

"This food is so good." Sven managed to say in between bites of hotdog.

Train merely nodded as he munched on some onion-rings, more interested in the children at the table across from them. "So, you actually wore those?" He asked the red-head while pointing to the fake ears on the table top. The boy's brother, Kun-something-or-other, had just given Train a brief recount of Love's performance. The sweeper knew the boy's name wasn't love, and he couldn't quite remember how they'd gotten on this particular topic to begin with, or why he was talking to them for that matter, but he was having a good time. Food was always a plus as well.

"Yes." Love answered the golden-eyed man's qustion.

"I was thinking about going to sing too." The sister announced.

"Will you also be wearing ears?" Train asked with a sardonic grin on his face.

"No, that was just a dare for Gaara only." She said. Gaara, that was his name. Now Train had no good reason to continue calling him by that nickname he'd secretly appointed.

"I might just do that too. How about it, Sven? You and me, a duet!"

"No." Came the sloppy answer from his partner as he shoved some of Train's stolen onion-rings into his mouth. The scruffy bounty-hunter was giving his best impression of a starving coyote.

"Do you know that guy that's about to go now?" Train questioned, not that it mattered. He just felt the need to add something else to the conversation. Nothing like socializing with the locals.

"No, but he's wearing the same outfit as Riku!" The blonde girl noticed in surprise.

The brunette sweeper then lost interest. He turned back to his food, that was now only half it's original serving size, and smiled as he resolved to drag Sven up next. As it stood, he was going to have to wait till this person was done so he'd might as well take the time to enjoy his food. He had to cover his sensitive ears as the loud techno like music started up.

o0o

"Two hookers and an eight ball! Can you believe that I write this (beep)? Two hookers and an eight ball! Stupid people thinking' I am cool." It was a good thing Axel was a fast talker by nature, despite what his usual persona might lead a person to believe. Now, his talent for outrageously fast words came in handy as the lyrics on the screen flew by and he managed to keep pace. "I definitely give myself props and that way I always get what I want. I always try to keep my edge with two hookers and an eight ball..."

"I bet I know why he chose this song." Roxas joked as he shifted in the faux-leather seat to better face the stage and watch his friend perform.

"Really? I salute you. Takes someone better than I to ever know why that boy does anything." Xigbar remarked, looking over the menu in front of him with his head angled to the side to make reading easier.

"I'm standing up to all my abuse, inexperience is where I lose. I'm struggling to keep my edge with two hookers and an eight ball baby, for all the fine ladies falling out of my Mercedes and into the eighties with a bad case of rabies and a high-top fade…" Axel continued on at fluctuating pace: break neck speeds for a few lines then dragging the next. His mouth was certainly going to be dry after this.

-Elsewhere-

In another sector of the universe, Luxord watched with all he could muster of boredom as wave after wave broke against the shore of the World he was assigned to. He'd lost the slip of paper he'd written the details of his mission on and be it that he didn't take time to memorize it, he was at a stand still. Once the Superior sent someone for a progress report he'd get right back on it, he assured himself. "Right o' then." He said outloud when out of his periphery he could see a dark gate opening. 'That was sooner than I expected.'

Luxord wasn't surprised when he saw Saix step out of the portal. Out of all the Organization, Saix was the one most continuously on the move, and so, usually was always the one that was out doing assignment assessments. "Evening." The diviner greeted as he approached his blonde comrade. "Mind helping me? Xemnas has sent me to find everyone else." He said. "They're missing, by the way." He added.

"I could figure that much, else you wouldn't be lookin'." Luxord commented. "Does that mean my job here is on hold?"

"Obviously." Saix answered as he beckoned the other man to hurry up and enter the portal so they could be on their way. "I think I know where they are and I decided some company might be nice."

"Xemnas didn't want me involved, huh." Number Ten said cheerfully as a knowing smile slipped across his face. He could see right though the other man's words, indeed, he'd left it up to him to do just that.

"Nope." Came the simple answer and with that the two left the ocean World and moved on to the place of Saix's suspicion. A place called Earth. 'Now where we should look specifically…' This was going to take way too long, he could already tell.

-In the Café-

The song cut off abruptly and Axel smiled as he'd finished. 'Alrighty. Got that over with.'

_**(A/N): Axel was singing 2 Hookers and an 8-Ball by Mindless Self Indulgence. **_


	13. Chapter 13

_**(A/N): Wow. You know what? I'm just going to stop saying anything about a next update cause by this point you all are used to waiting and I'm only setting myself up for failure. **_

_**So you notice how all the normal people are slowly leaving? First the bystander that was beside Orochimaru and then all of Hojo's gang. Save for maybe two or three people who are not important, the entire café is now full of crazy anime and game characters.**_

Saix kicked at a loose stone and sighed heavily. Luxord was trying to set him up with a girl already? Unbelievable. The two, plus girl, walked leisurely down the cobbled streets of the large weather worn city they'd arrived in. "I'm sorry ma'am, but my friend and I need to be going. We're heading for Japan, any indication which way?" The blue-haired man cut in.

The woman looked at them for the longest time, and at first Saix wondered if she had understood the question. Really, she was trying to figure out if this fellow was serious. "You're in Venice, sweetie. Japan is, like, 64,000 kilometers that way." Dramatically she pointed her slender arm east. She swiftly leaned in closer to Luxord and whispered worriedly, "Is your friend alright? Is he slow or something?"

Saix flushed, his pointed ears weren't just for looks. "There was a miscalculation in my phrasing." He tried to cover. "Come on, Luxord, we need to find the nearest transportation facility."

"I can give you directions to the air port if you need." The young lady offered helpfully.

Saix politely declined and drug the reluctant gambler the rest of the way down the street and around a corner. "What makes you think they're in this Japan place anyway?" Number Ten asked, tugging his arm out of Saix's grasp.

"Oh I don't know… the fact that they had a freeze frame of the place on Axel's private screen?" The slender elf paused. "Although, that really doesn't tell us much." He admitted. He paused, curious that it was taking Luxord so long for a response, he turned in time to see the blonde making eyes at another woman and promptly smacked him in the head. "Any ideas?" Saix demanded, drawing attention back to the matter at hand.

Luxord shrugged while turning to face him again. "I don't know. Why don't you use your psychic powers? Or we could roam around a bit longer, something smells good…" The Lunar Diviner rolled his eyes and Luxord waved off his ire with a smirk. "Hey! Do you think Xaldin has his cell phone on?"

"_Cell_ phone?" Saix looked confused.

"Yes. Nifty little things. He and I got some while visiting that Midgar place awhile back and then Xigbar tampered with them until he got them to work almost anywhere!"

"They will put us into contact with number Three?"

"No, it will indicate if he's picking his nose or not." He dodged Seven's hand as he made another swipe for his head. "Well, ask a stupid question get a stupid answer!" Luxord leaned against the brick of the building they'd paused beside and dug deep within his pants pocket to retrieve the communications device.

o0o

Xaldin jumped as his pocket began to vibrate. "Hello?" He asked as he dug out the offending portable phone and answered it.

"Hey, where are you?" He heard Luxord's richly accented voice ask over the static riddled line.

"Some restaurant on a world called Earth."

"Uh-huh…" The other man sounded a little uncertain. "Here, Saix wants to talk to you." There was a rustle as the phone exchanged holders and then it was Seven speaking, "Xaldin, I'm going to need you to just continuously talk."

"Why? That's gonna look a little odd, buddy." Xaldin informed him.

"I'm going to track you via essence and it would be nice if I had some link from you directly to work with."

Xaldin sighed as he slunk down in the slick maroon upholstery of the café booth. "How long is this going to take?"

"Possibly a few minutes, no more than ten if Luxord will keep silent and let me focus." Came Saix's answer.

"Alright. Well, just follow the sultry sound of my voice." He said trying to get a jump start on pointless rambling.

"Saix doing his little psychic thing again?" Xigbar asked, he'd been listening in to the lancer's end of the conversation the whole time.

"Yep. And, apparently, I have to be talking non-stop for it to work."

Xigbar nodded and quickly snatched the phone from the other's hand. "Hold on there just two seconds, dude. Can you do your snazzy hunting trick in four minutes or less?"

"Possibly…"

"Well I've just thought of a fun way to get a constant stream of words out of Xaldin here. He's going to sing to ya a bit."

"Sing?" Came two surprised voices, Luxord had switched it to speaker phone a few seconds prior. The gambler was glad of his decision, no way Saix was going to take all the fun! Xigbar could hear Luxord in the background laughing hysterically, "Wow, how're you going to talk him into that?" At that very moment Xaldin was sinking further into his seat.

"Sing up there while I hold the phone too?" Xaldin asked incredulously.

Axel, quick on his feet and who had also been listening into the conversation, swiftly offered up a solution, "Tuck it into the collar of your cloak!"

The gunner's grin widened, "Exactly."

"Whatever. Just one of you, I don't care who, start talking…or singing, and keep it up." Saix instructed somewhat snappishly. "People are starting to stare at us."

"Same here, man." Xigbar said with a light shrug. And it was true, more than a few pares of eyes from the table beside them were casting odd glances over their shoulders questioningly.

"You owe me." Xaldin spoke as he stood up, discreetly placing the black phone into the folds of his cloak, the speaker tilted up along his collar bone. "Come on Demyx, you're going to pick out something real quick." As an afterthought he added, "Something that doesn't suck."

-Scene Change-

A few minutes before Xaldin had gotten the phone call, and sometime during Demyx's making fun of Axel: clarifying that the 'beep' in the song was understood and that he hadn't had to actually say it, Train Harnet had decided to drag Sven up onto the stage.

It was a difficult task and surprisingly Lo-…Gaara had lent a hand to the sweeper's cause. And though it was understood between Sven and Train that the following events were never going to be recounted, the end result was that the reluctant ex-IBI agent was on the stage.

"Why were you so eager to get that man up there?" Kankuro questioned his brother after he'd regained sense enough to talk, man, when Gaara put his mind to something…

"Because someone else needed to go, and it was getting a little boring." Needless to say, the red-head was now sufficiently entertained.

Temari was still a little shocked, 'I think I'll take Riku up on his offer to sit with him.' Before further incidents could occur the girl stood up, "Hey, I'll be back in a little while." She said, making a beeline to the back tables and to her new found friend.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Sven managed to say just as the music cut on. There was a lot of preliminary cords and neither one of them were attempting the _duh duh di-ai. _

"Oh I can. After Gaara-" Train was cut off as Sven took the lead: the actual lyrics had finally started.

"Pressure, pressing down on me, pressing down on you no man ask for."

"Under pressure that burns a building down, split's a family in two, puts people on streets…" Train was quick to step up. What Sven lacked in showmanship and enthusiasm Train made up for it two fold; happily bouncing on the balls of his feet with excess of energy.

Slightly lethargic: "It's the terror of knowing what this world is about."

With a large smile and with feeling, "Watchin' some good friend scream _let me out_!" Train hadn't really put a particular reason behind the choosing of this song, but he knew it -kind of, and it was one of the only songs under the duet category that wasn't about two people being in love. That Gaara child might have gotten Sven up here, but Train knew he wasn't likely to stay if he'd started serenading him! Either way, life was good.


	14. Chapter 14

_**(A/N): Holly geez, ya'll! Pushing three years. No excuses other than the fact that I got distracted with other stories. And, for a time, I wasn't giving this story any credit at all. This chapter goes out to RedMoonLight009, hope you like it, honey! (By the way, sorry it's six days later than I said I was aiming for… eh heh.) **_

The atmosphere was of tight seating, it smelled of greasy food and strong drink and the familiar scent of warm bodies gathered together: perfume, cologne, and inviting seasoned meats. And he was still there… and, as hard as it was to admit to himself, he was enjoying it. Of all the depraved actions he had ever committed, engaging in conversation with two human youths, and… was he snuggling the female?

"Ouch, Sesshomaru! Watch your nails." Kagome blushed prettily, and it was then that both she and the demon lord simultaneously realized something. He was drunk. He released the tender underside of her knee which he hadn't even noticed he'd grabbed.

Hojo was trying his darnedest to avoid looking at them for the moment. Somehow, it was just the three of them at the table. When had that happened? It hadn't seemed like his other friends had been leaving at an abnormal pace, nor did the night feel like it was dragging on. He didn't begrudge the older man… honestly; he just didn't want to be alone with just him and his crush.

"Everything to your liking? Can I get anyone anything else?" The waiter had been making infrequent stops, but all at the table were happy at his timely intervention.

"A glass of water." Sesshomaru requested, nudging away the empty glass he'd been nursing for the last ten minutes. It would be the last, he vowed, as he acknowledged for the first time the tingle in his head and the slight haze working it's way into his vision.

-In The Darkness Between Italy and Japan-

The two Nobodies stood waiting quietly as they listened to the fast-paced exchange of words on the other end of the line. Luxord held the cell phone between the two of them with the speaker turned up high in anticipation for the show they were about to be treated to. "Let's hope Demyx picks him a bogus track," the blonde chuckled.

"Even if he didn't mean to, number Nine's taste in music is quite questionable," Saix nodded in agreement to Luxord's jab at their fellow members. They had might as well get some fun out of the tracking process, he decided. It was no longer a mission to him. Perhaps the others had merely felt the need to get far away from Xemnas for a time, and more power to them, they had just better have saved himself and Ten a seat!

"So, you really think this is going to work? I mean, even if I'm quite, how are you going to be able to focus with windbag over there serenading?"

Saix smirked, "I have a well disciplined will for self-control." He assured, "Even if he's sounds like a mating duck, I should be able to ignore any urge to balk or chuckle in order to narrow in on his essence."

o0o

"Hey, shut it. I happen to have marvelous vocals," Xaldin fussed into the phone while Demyx scrolled through the list of songs. "Doesn't mean I like to use them, and I swear to you Demyx, if you select some retarded little show-tune not only will I refuse to comply, I will personally send you to Oblivion."

"No worries! I've found just the thing! Um… you have a good sense for music? You can pick up instrumental cues, right? This song isn't fast… and I think you'll have the voice for it but-"

"I'll manage. Let's get this over with." The dark-haired man literally flinched when his younger subordinate pressed the button. With another heavy sigh he tucked the slim, black phone into his Organization cloak and pulled on the draw strings for a snugger hold. It stuck him suddenly, has he was raising the microphone, that he could have easily handed the cell over to Roxas or Xigbar and made them do it. 'Too late now.'

The music began and straight away he glared over to the dirty-blonde musician. What the Worlds was this? He didn't have time to dwell, though, and he dutifully trained his eyes to the screen in back, "No one can blame you for walking away, too much rejection, no love injection. Life can be easy, it's not always swell, but don't tell me truth hurts, little girl, 'cause it hurts like hell…" On second thought, perhaps it wasn't too bad. "But down in the Underground, you'll find someone true, down in the Underground, a land serene, a crystal moon Aah haaa…

"It's only forever. It's not long at all. The lost and lonely…" Like some songs before, there were echoes recorded into the track along with the music that accompanied the parts he was suppose to sing. It was a strange song, but it wasn't near the point of unbearable, and, if he was hearing the music correctly, it matched his tone enough to complement his voice. Demyx would be aloud to survive.

Maybe. "Daddy, daddy, get me out of here! (heard about a place today) I, I'm underground, (nothing ever hurts again). Heard about a place today, ( daddy get me out of here) Where nothing ever hurts again (wanna go underground)…"

o0o

"Oh, wow," was all Leon could say as the black-clad man on stage belted out an upbeat song. It looked like everyone was going to be getting in on the act. He looked ahead of him at the table holding the other members of the Organization and shook his head at their laughter. "Hn." They weren't suppose to be capable of laughing; but, why fake it?

"Hello, boys, mind if I join you?" The stoic soldier took his attention off the confusing group and turned to the young lady in front of their table. His eyes flitted to Riku and then to Sora, the two Keyblade masters nodded in unison. "My name is Tamari," she introduced herself to the two brunettes. "I thought maybe you might provide better company than my siblings."

"Doubt it…" Leon muttered under his breath. The girl looked at him with the barest of smirks, a cat-like gleam in her eye, as if to say, 'oh, really?'. The older man couldn't help but chuckle slightly. So she had exceptional hearing, he'd remember not to say anything out loud from then on.

"So, are you guys from out of town?"

And at that point Leon officially tuned them out. He let his eyes drift back up towards the stage. As soon as he did so, a large black oval appeared behind the man and Leon's muscles tensed, ready for a fight. The music was still going when the two figures stepped through the Darkness and onto the stage, as he expected, it was more of the Organization. The blonde was leaning against his elven companion, looking every bit like he was about to topple over with laughter.

Leon's fists clinched, how could he have been so blind, it was an ambush! Yet, the amount of people who actually seemed surprised at the stunt were few. Even the blonde girl beside them barely took the time to pause in her sentence to look at the two new arrivals. "That's odd," was all was said.

"Show offs!" One of the children from the table behind him yelled. It was enough of a distraction to give him pause.

o0o

"This wasn't exactly how I planed it. Alas, my tracking ability can be either too vague or painfully specific." Saix remarked as he hurried out of the spotlight. Luxord followed after him, looping his arm across Xaldin's shoulder. The music had ended, and there were a few half-hearted claps for the performance, but on the whole, the audience was confused. That is, excluding a certain table in the back of the building which was alive with claps and laughter.

"Welcome to the party, guys," Axel greeted his fellows with a feral grin.

"I had expected something a little more…grand." Saix admitted, pulling up a chair from a near by table and turning it around in a practical manner, since there was no more room in the booth once Xaldin and Luxord squeezed into a seat. He had given the restaurant a scrutinizing once over as soon as he'd closed the portal behind them and it wasn't the sort of place he had pictured the others vacationing at.

"What the heck, dudes!" A shout from the neighboring table called the Organization members attention to it. "Making such an entrance and then no show to follow it up! What was the point?"

"Point?" Xaldin asked, quirking an eyebrow at the blonde youth that was calling them out.

"Naruto, stop being rude!" One of his female friends chided forcefully, throwing her unused fork at him.

He caught it easily, but pressed on. "I mean, I figured you'd at least bust into song too, or something. If you were going to go through the trouble popping out of nowhere all creepy like."

"Oh, they'll be singing, don't you worry!" Xigbar said with a broad smile. "They just don't believe in front doors, you'll have to forgive them."

"I don't believe in music, either." Saix amended quickly. He would _not _be singing. He was only here for the show. And what a foretaste he and Luxord had gotten on their way there!

"Don't kid yourself," Luxord chuckled, popping his knuckles. He wouldn't mind getting on stage, being a showman by nature.

"I'm afraid not, singing is against my religion."

"Even if I were naïve enough to think you had a religion, dude, there's no way it's against music," Demyx cut in with a disbelieving smirk. This was a first for the younger members of the Organization, seeing the older members interact so loosely. And Saix having a sense of humor? It was unheard of!

"I'd watch it, he might decide to sacrifice you to his heathen gods," Roxas joined in, jabbing Demyx in the side. He could sympathize more with the blue-haired man, he didn't want to be made to sing either. But if the others had their way…

"Oh, here's a question," Luxord interrupted, "What are the Keyblade wielders doing here?" He hadn't just noticed them, but upon realizing the others were contently ignoring them, he figured it was up to him to ask if he wanted to find out.

"They followed us," Axel said with a shrug. "We've already set up a truce, it's all good."

"Does _he _know that?" Xigbar questioned, jerking a thumb not-so-subtly in Leon's direction. The other man looked like he was about to go into a conniption fit. The usually well composed gunner was battling some sort of inner argument, it appeared.

"He ought to, he's friends with those two," Roxas pointed out with a shrug. Nothing bad had happened so far, and he was optimistic that nothing would.

"He'd better…" Saix muttered. He was really looking forward to a little relaxation.

The sound of music drew the conversation to a close. The next performer had finally taken the stage. The older man was not visibly drunk, although he swayed to the music, his long white pony-tail swishing behind him as he did so. "Ooh my little pretty one, pretty one, When you gonna give me some time, Sharona? Oh, you make my motor run, my motor run, gun it comin' off of the line, Sharona! Never gonna stop, give it up. Such a dirty mind, always get it up for the touch of the younger kind, my my my i yi woo! M m m my Sharona!"

Jiraiya had taken the mic.

**_(note): Credits! "Underground" by David Bowie and "My Sharona" by the Knack._**


End file.
